Katana
by Gaara's Plaything
Summary: Sakura is a doctor in the modern world, but an encounter with an ancient sword sends her spinning back in time into the arms of one of the most powerful warriors in history. GaaSaku. Rated M for lemons and graphic scenes, if I can manage it. Rewriting! Also on hiatus too.
1. Premiere

**So, rewriting this is fun. If anyone's wondering why I'm doing it, it's because where I was up to, I was stuck, and I felt that the chapters needed to be redone. Quite frankly, I've never liked this chapter anyway, I didn't say everything I thought I should. But now I have, I've added in more detail of the premiere night, more in Sakura and Sasuke's encounter near the then, and I've even increased the word count from 2,266 to 3,584!**

**I'm going to rewrite a few others too, once I'm done with this. Not all of them, though, but quite a few. Mostly they're ones that have been on here for awhile. Plus I've also deleted a few others that are going absolutely nowhere.**

**In any case, please enjoy and know that I don't own Naruto…**

_**Katana**_

**Chapter One – Premiere**

"_In recent news, the legendary Sabaku Katana has come home to Konoha. The sword and the collection that goes with it shall be displayed in the Leaf Museum for the next few weeks, but tonight is the premiere of this exquisite collection. Most of these pieces have been showcased separately over the last century since they were found, but tonight will be the first time in a long time that everything from the original excavation has been brought together, a truly momentous occasion._

"_The exquisite katana itself is surrounded in myths and legends, compiling over the centuries since its forging. By now, there's hardly anyone who doesn't know of the legends behind it, though unlike an Egyptian artefact, it doesn't have a 'curse' upon it. There is however the enigmatic writing etched into the blade, rather surprisingly in Latin. It is believed that the katana may have once been in the hands of someone in ancient Rome, or perhaps even after that great Empire fell._

"_In any case, _'Let Tempus Be Thy Guide' _has baffled many, the reasons behind this particular phrase remaining a mystery. But that hasn't stopped the theories. The most popular is that this sword is a gateway to the past, but not just for anyone. It's said that its most famous wielder, the heroic Sabaku Warrior that the katana is named for, used it to bring his one true love to him _from another time_. The idea of time travel isn't really…"_

The presenter's voice was abruptly cut off as a woman switched the TV off, sighing deeply. The woman, one Doctor Haruno Sakura, wasn't really paying attention to the broadcast anyway, she knew all the legends off by heart. After all, her mother was the curator at the Leaf museum, and in charge of the Sabaku Katana collection. There wasn't anything that she didn't know, courtesy of her mother.

Of all the legends that came with the collection, Haruno Sayuri firmly believed in the most popular myth about the sword. She could almost hear her mother's voice in her head reciting, _"It just has to be this one!"_ The 'one' she was talking about was the story where the sword was supposed to bring the one woman who could tame the great warrior who'd borne the sword back in the days when the powers that be in Japan were at their greatest, to him. Basically it was a love story, and Sakura's mother was a sucker for the romantic.

It briefly occurred to Sakura that the woman on the television had basically said the same thing about the legend, and she rolled her eyes at herself.

Sakura was currently getting ready, she was going to the premiere tonight, and she wanted to look good for the show. Both of her parents would be there, and she was looking forward to seeing them both, as she hadn't in awhile. Her mother had definitely been busy lately with the preparations for tonight, and her father had only returned yesterday from an international medical conference in America.

Only the big names in medicine from several countries had been invited, and it was only natural that Haruno Etsuya, Japan's leading cardiothoracic surgeon, had attended. He was one of the best surgeons in the world, and certainly the best in Japan, and he was in high demand. His fame had made it a little risky for Sakura to go into medicine herself, knowing full well that she would be immediately typecast because of her father's success. But she'd managed to prove herself, and had _not _followed her father into cardio.

During her internship at Konoha's Saint Hokage Hospital, Sakura had decided on paediatrics, her love of kids being the deciding factor in her career. Working with them was always a delight, though as she was still working at Saint Hokage for her residency, she also volunteered time in their free clinic.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Sakura went back to getting ready. She was attending the premiere in style tonight, on the arm of none other than Uchiha Sasuke, her high school sweetheart and ex fiancé. Her mother had given Sakura six tickets, of which she'd given the extra five to her best friends, and Sasuke was going to be her date for the evening.

The others coming were Yamanaka Ino, Sakura's best friend since childhood, and her boyfriend Inuzuka Kiba. Also there was Tenten Yang, who was half Chinese and half Japanese, and her fiancé Rock Lee, who'd harboured a crush on Sakura for years until Tenten could get his attention. Lee, Kiba Ino and Sakura had grown up together, and they'd met Tenten and Sasuke in high school.

So Sakura quickly headed into her bedroom to do her hair and makeup, knowing that if it wasn't just right, Ino would complain. That was a major downside to going anywhere fancy with Ino, but then again, it wasn't like she didn't know the trade. Ino was a professional makeup consultant for a big name fashion magazine here in Konoha.

In any case, a couple of hours later Sakura stood in her living room waiting, proud of the final result. She was dressed in a gorgeous traditional kimono, the red somehow not clashing with her pink hair, with a silver and red obi tied around the middle. Silver embroidery was threaded through the kimono in cherry blossom patterns, with a slight splash of pink in the blooms. Her hair was up in a simple yet elegant bun, two chopsticks through it to keep it up. Talismans in the shape of kanji dangled from them, reading 'love'. They were her absolute favourite hair accessories that she had, and matched what she was wearing perfectly.

Her over all look matched the theme of the evening.

Ten minutes later, the sound of a horn honking caught her attention, and she moved swiftly and expertly in her geta sandals to the door, not forgetting to lock it once she stepped through. A limo awaited her at her gate, and she smiled to see Kiba standing up so that he came out at the top.

"Hey Sakura!" he greeted, grinning at her foolishly. "This limo is awesome!"

She grinned back, his enthusiasm contagious. "Hey, Kiba," she returned. "You can thank Sasuke for this!"

"I know," he said with a slight pout. "He's not letting me forget it. Now get in here before Ino starts complaining."

"Oh shut up, Kiba!" came a rather shrill voice, and the door of the limo opened to reveal a rather wildly gesticulating Ino. "Come on, Forehead, or we're gonna be late!"

Sakura immediately complied, rushing forward as much as she could in her kimono and geta, no matter how adept she was at walking in the traditional shoes, then wriggled her way into the limo. Sasuke was immediately by her side, and she smiled at his attentiveness.

"You look beautiful," he whispered to her, and she flushed slightly at the compliment.

The trip to the museum was a bit loud, as it wasn't only Kiba's first time in a limo, but Lee's as well. The two of them stood up, both of them with half their bodies outside the vehicle, yelling and cheering as they moved through the streets. Ino and Tenten both looked horribly embarrassed, but Sakura figured it was probably best they got it out of their system now, and not later at the museum.

But she knew that both guys were in for an inevitable earful from their significant others.

Their arrival at the museum was more dignified, as Ino and Tenten had managed to yank Kiba and Lee back inside the limo, both of them having to sit through their girls straightening their hair. "You are _not _allowed to embarrass me, Kiba," Ino scolded. "This is a formal evening, and you _will_ behave yourself!"

"And you, too, Lee," Tenten warned, a gleam in her eyes.

Both men gulped as the limo came to a smooth halt.

The six of them proceeded to exit the limo, Sakura first, as she was closest to the door, then Sasuke, Ino, Kiba, Tenten and finally Lee. All of her friends looked in awe of the red carpet and the amount of paparazzi here, except Sasuke, as he was used to these kinds of things because of his family. There were a lot of celebrities attending tonight, the main reason for this many cameras, but the rest of it was here because of the notoriety of the collection itself.

"This thing really is a big deal, isn't it?" Tenten said, slightly awed.

"I did warn you," Sakura defended.

"Yeah, but it's still a little overwhelming," Kiba told her.

They were all silent a moment, then Ino said, "Oh, come on! This is nothing! Let's get in there already. I want to see the sword!"

She then linked her arm with Kiba, looking pointedly at Sakura, who sighed and then took Sasuke's proffered arm. He smirked at her then the two of them led the way into the museum, all the while trying to ignore the flashing lights of the cameras. She could feel her dates arm relax once they moved past the reporters, and she gave his arm a squeeze in reassurance.

Once they were inside the atmosphere was calmer, more relaxed. They were all given pamphlet guides, which contained a list of all the items on display and a small commentary for each one. Sakura really wanted to get in to see the collection, but decided that it would probably be best if she found her parents first, at least. She knew also that Sasuke would like to see them too, as he got along well with her father.

"Shall we go find my parents? We should let them know we're here." she suggested, and Sasuke nodded.

"It would be rude not to see them first," he agreed, and they both started scanning the crowd for them.

"There," Sakura said a moment later, and the two of them made their way through the throng to where Haruno Sayuri was laughing at something her husband was saying.

"Oh, Sakura!" her mother greeted when they approached them, gathering her for a hug. "You look beautiful, my dear!"

"So do you, mum," Sakura said as she returned the hug.

Both Sakura and her mother looked enough alike that they could almost pass for twins, right down to their pink hair, emerald eyes and… ahem!... unusual forehead. But after that their similarities ended. Sayuri was more than a little flighty, a complete romanticist, whereas Sakura was logical and sometimes a little too serious, like her father.

"Sasuke!" Etsuya greeted in a booming voice, slapping Sasuke on the back affectionately. "Good to see you, son!"

Sakura knew that her parents were disappointed when her and Sasuke's engagement had fallen through and the two of them had decided to just remain friends. They thought that Sasuke was the perfect match for her, and he probably was, but Sakura hadn't felt that they were right together. Sasuke seemed to agree, though lately she was thinking that he had second thoughts on ending their engagement.

"Have you taken a look at the collection yet?" Sayuri asked.

"I wanted to see you guys first," Sakura told her mother, who smiled indulgently.

"That's nice dear," she said, "but go enjoy the evening, you two. We can all catch up afterwards, ok?"

After getting a hug from her father, Sakura and Sasuke left, doing as her mother suggested and taking a look at the collection. There were a lot of things found with the katana, a lot of archaeological do-dads that Sakura had no idea why they bothered with them. But then again, who was she to know what was and wasn't historically significant? A lot of broken pottery, funky coins and rusty dagger pieces weren't really her cup of tea, so to speak. But there were a few things that _were_ intact.

For instance, there was a hand mirror that, though there was some cracking and peeling on the silver lining, still reflected a pretty good image. There were some interesting jewellery bits (like a hair comb with fake sakura blossoms that she absolutely loved) as well as a vase that depicted some unknown story on it, and a few extra weapons that had managed to remain intact. Such as a jewelled dagger, though it lacked a scabbard.

And then there was the sword itself. It was beautiful, and had been unsheathed for tonight's premiere. Sakura knew from her mother that that would only be for tonight, it would be sheathed once more for the more public viewings. But to see the actual blade was more than a little exciting. Sasuke certainly looked impressed, and she knew that he admired the fine craftsmanship. His father had a rather large collection of Japanese weapons in his home in Tokyo.

As they moved on to the tapestry, a beautiful rendition of a battle in which the legendary warrior was most famous for having wielded the katana, they were interrupted by Lee and Kiba. "Sorry, Sakura," Kiba said, "but we're stealing Sasuke away."

"Whatever for?" Sakura asked, amused by their antics.

"Do not worry, lovely Sakura!" Lee exclaimed. "We will have him back to you soon enough!"

Sakura chuckled and conceded, "Alright, but you three make sure you behave! Don't do anything ridiculous!"

"Sakura, you wound us with your lack of faith," Kiba pouted, then the three of them were gone.

Turning her attention back to the tapestry, Sakura took the time to examine it carefully. The colours were slightly dimmed from time, but they were still beautiful, and she appreciated the detail that had gone into it. It was made of the finest silk, and depicted a victory scene in which a mysterious red headed warrior held the Sabaku Katana aloft. He was surrounded by several people, and she carefully looked each of them over. The ones that stood out the most were a woman with a fan and four pigtails in her hair, a man with a hood and purple face paint, a guy with hair that was pulled up, making his head look slightly like a pineapple, a guy with long dark hair and eyes that didn't seem to have pupils and another man with spiky blond hair and whisker-like marks on his cheeks. There were others, but these ones caught her attention the most.

Not more than the red head who was at the centre of the legend, though. The mysterious warrior, wielder of the Sabaku Katana. His name was lost to history but whoever he was, his visage held Sakura captivate. She could almost _feel_ his presence emanating from the tapestry, though that was impossible. Still, her attention was completely drawn to him and she really couldn't look away.

So engrossed was she in her study of him that she didn't notice someone come up behind her. "Fascinating, isn't it?"

Practically jumping out of her skin, Sakura turned to see a blond woman standing next to her and looking at the tapestry as well. She turned and held her hand out, introducing herself, "Hello, I'm Senju Tsunade. Sorry to scare you."

Heart beating fast, Sakura took the proffered hand. "Haruno Sakura, and it's fine," she said. "Wait, Senju Tsunade? You're the one who owns this collection, then?"

"That's me," the busty woman said. "Along with my rather lazy and perverted husband, of course."

Sakura smiled and they both turned back to peruse the tapestry, her eyes inevitably drawn back to the red head once more. "It's a marvellous piece of work," Tsunade spoke. "The detail in it is so great, you can almost feel like you're back there with them, celebrating their victory alongside them. It's a shame most of their names have been forgotten."

Sakura 'hmm-ed' in agreement, then asked, "Whose names _are _remembered then?"

Tsunade smirked. "That blond one with the spiky hair is Uzumaki Naruto."

Sakura's eyes widened. Uzumaki Naruto was one of the most famous of the Hokage's of Konoha in all of Japan's history. It was during his time that the infamous Snake Charmer, whose name also wasn't known, was defeated. A piece of Japanese history stood on this tapestry, and he wasn't even the focus of it!

"That was probably a wonderful time to live in," Sakura sighed wistfully.

Tsunade's smile was just as wistful as her tone. "Yes," she murmured, then seemed to shake herself out of a reverie. "I really have to go. Must get to Jiraiya before he gets himself into too much trouble, ne?"

Sakura was left on her own then, but not for long. "Hey forehead," Ino greeted as she came up and surprised her friend. "Who was that you were talking to?"

Sakura grinned. "Senju Tsunade," she said, and Ino's jaw dropped.

"Aw, man!" the blonde whined. "I wish _I_ could meet her!"

A few hours later, the party started to wind up, people began leaving, and Sakura finally found herself alone with her friends. "This evening was awesome," Kiba sighed, making Sakura suspicious as to what he and Lee had been up to, especially since they'd had Sasuke in tow for awhile there.

"Tell me about it," Tenten murmured, leaning on Lee for support.

"I'm totally bushed," Ino said, also leaning, but on Kiba.

"It was a grand event," Lee spoke up. "Definitely worth it."

Sakura smiled. "You guys should go home, get some sleep," she suggested. "The limo should be back by now."

"What about you, Sakura?" Tenten asked.

"Her parents are giving us both a lift home," Sasuke said.

"Alright," they all agreed, and after saying their farewells, it was just Sakura and Sasuke left alone.

He looked a little nervous, to be honest, and Sakura wondered what was wrong. "Sasuke?" she asked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said, but a moment later went on, "I think we made a mistake, breaking up."

Sakura gasped lightly, even though she'd known something like this was coming. "But…"

"I'm sick and tired of pretending, Sakura," he told her, turning to face her and taking her hands in his. "I'm tired of pretending that I don't love you anymore. I miss _us_, Sakura. I want to be with you again."

"But Sasuke," Sakura began, "our break-up…"

"It may have been mutual at the time," she was interrupted once more, "but not anymore. I love you Sakura. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you."

Sakura opened her mouth to say something, _anything_, but before she could, Sasuke leaned in and captured her lips with his in a passionate kiss. Shock prevented her from reacting as he pulled her closer to him, deepening the kiss. Sakura let him, and soon found herself slowly responding to him. She kissed him back, and Sasuke took that as a go, putting more passion into their kiss.

Her hands came up to thread through his hair and she moaned as his hands slid down to cup her bum, bring her closer to him. Their tongues warred for dominance hers came out on top as Sasuke let her dominate the kiss. They were pressed so tightly together, so caught up in their kiss, that it took a moment for a loud banging noise to register with their brains. The sound was of a door being repetitively opened and closed, leading Sakura to believe that the caretakers must be putting the collection away now. This return to reality had Sakura pulling away from the man in front of her.

"Sasuke," she breathed, letting her hands fall down to his chest as she refused to look at him. "We can't do this any more."

"Why not?" Sasuke asked. "I love you, and I know that somewhere down inside you still love me too, otherwise you wouldn't have responded to me the way you did."

Her eyes widened at his words and she stood there for a moment, absolutely speechless, but then she regained control of herself. "I'm sorry, Sasuke, but I just can't!" she apologised, before she turned tail and ran from him as best as she could in her kimono and geta, tears forming and spilling down her cheeks.

She ran until she could run no more, then looked up to see where she was. It was one of the museum's main storage rooms, more precisely, it was the one where the katana and such were being kept. Speaking of which, the sword was already in here, which meant that they had possibly finished putting everything away. Somehow, Sakura could feel a light thrumming sensation as she looked at the beautiful blade, and she took an involuntary step towards it.

She was mesmerised by it, staring at it without really blinking until her eyes watered once more, this time from the strain. She closed her eyes and heard singing, the most beautiful signing she'd ever heard. Snapping her eyes open, she reached out to the katana, her fingers lightly brushing the blade. The thrumming became far more prominent, and as her fingers closed around the hilt, a light of some sort flashed before her, causing her to shut her eyes tightly and look away from the katana.

Sakura cried out in pain as the sensation of being burned swept through her, and a moment later the light vanished in an all encompassing flash, leaving the room devoid of any life and the katana still singing softly.

**So there you have it. I hope it's better than before, though I feel it is. Review and tell me if you like the difference.**


	2. Red Sand

**This was a bitch to write. I couldn't get past what I had there already, so I just decided to ignore it and rewrite it from scratch. And then of course I went through it and added things from the original I felt needed to be there. In any case, I hope you like the rewrite!**

**I don't own Naruto…**

**Chapter Two – Red Sand**

Slipping through the camp, three men made little sound, intent on their target. They were assassins, and they were here to kill someone that rumours said was hard to kill. But these men were part of an elite squad, they had taken down many who were considered to be 'impossible' to take out.

The camp was silent this time of night, those on watch had been vigilant, but these men were better. They were known as the Silent Squad, and their reputations preceded them. No one had ever heard them coming before, and it was unlikely that anyone ever would. Their assassination techniques relied on sneaking into their target's home or other, taking their lives as they slept.

The tent they were looking for came into view, and the leader gestured instructions, to which the two with him nodded, and they made for the back of the tent, where they would remain unseen. As they reached it, a couple of soldiers came out of one tent and the three assassins froze, waiting until the warriors moved on. One of them then pulled a kunai out of a pouch, quietly slicing a hole in the tent.

The leader quickly glanced into the tent, noting that there were no lights, and also that the resident of the tent was indeed there. No good coming all this way if their target wasn't even here. He indicated for his squad mates to follow him as he slipped inside. Once in there, they took note of the figure on the makeshift cot and confirmed the identity of their target. The red haired man slumbered on, oblivious to their presence.

The leader grinned. They'd all heard the stories of how this man apparently never slept, and to see that it wasn't true was an honour indeed. This mighty warrior was legendary in battle, a fierce fighter who took down countless numbers of his enemies in one fell swoop. But now he would die, murdered in his sleep without honour. It was truly a momentous occasion indeed.

Saying a quick mokútō, he unsheathed his katana, raising it high above his head before bringing it down in a precision strike that hit the heart dead on. His squad mates sniggered at the sight of this once mighty warrior, murdered in the dark like some commoner. But something didn't feel right, so the leader made to pull out the sword to strike again, making sure that it was done.

The blade would not move. In the faint light in the tent, the leader could see the red head's face crack, his body following a moment later as he collapsed in a pile of sand. The katana was loosened, only to fall to the ground as the grip on it went slack. The leader's jaw hung open as where there was once a sleeping figure before them, there was now nothing more then a pile of sand. He and his squad mates whirled around, only to be caught as more sand came up to encase them, blocking their escape.

A lantern flared into life and a figure stepped out of the shadows, one that was _supposed to be dead!_ All three assassins gulped as blue-jade eyes stared at them emotionlessly. He raised a hand and the sand covering the leader's squad mates crushed the life out of them, the sand muffling their death cries. Then the red head turned to him.

"Tell me who sent you and your death will be quick," he said in a monotone voice. "If not, then I will draw your death out long and painfully."

The leader of the assassins knew that he shouldn't say anything, he'd taken a vow with his employer to remain silent if he were captured. But he was about to die anyway, so he said, "Lord Orochimaru of the Otō village ordered your life to be terminated. You are in the way of his conquest of the Leaf."

"So you were sent in?" was the question.

"We were to eliminate you as you slept," the assassin said, "as our employer has scoffed at the rumours of your insomnia."

"Then your employer is a fool," the red head sneered.

There was a moment silence, then the assassin asked, "Will you keep your word?"

The red head nodded ever so briefly, and just as he'd promised it would be, the assassin's death was quick.

Sabaku no Gaara stared at the sand before him, drenched in the blood of his victims. He felt no remorse in killing them, they'd been here to do the same to him, after all. He sighed, then sent out a small sliver of sand that would summon his first ranked General, Baki to him. These men really should not have made it into the camp, their security was far too lax. Still, at least they would be able to improve on wherever they'd gone wrong.

Moments later there was a rapping at the tent entrance, and Gaara spoke, "Enter."

Baki came in a moment later and eyed all the red sand still lying around the tent. With a sigh, Gaara gathered it all back to his gourd, which lay in the corner of the tent, and said, "Find out who is on watch, tell them that three got past them, and warn them not to let it happen again."

"Yes, Kazekage-sama," Baki said with a bow. "You are unhurt, of course?"

"Of course," Gaara told him, and his old sensei and most trusted man left.

Once he was alone again, Gaara puzzled over Orochimaru's choice of assassins. The Silent Squad were well known assassins, but they were usually hired to take out people while they were sleeping. He knew that the Sannin knew that Gaara never slept, due to the tanuki demon that resided within him. So why? It was no secret that Gaara was an insomniac, so the actions were puzzling.

While he still lay in his mother's womb the sand spirit, or demon Shukaku, was sealed inside of him. It was a measure taken in part to protect the people from the raging demon and also, on his father's part, a means to procure a powerful soldier, one that would be a serious threat to their enemies. Gaara had spent most of his young life being used as a tool, until his father was killed and the elders of his village had declared _him_ as their Kazekage.

He knew that Orochimaru was no fool, perhaps he'd deliberately sent these assassins here, knowing they would fail? Nothing about the Snake was logical anyway, so maybe that irrational reasoning was justified in that maniacal brain of his. Deciding not to worry over the workings of the mad Sannin, Gaara instead decided to think over another aspect of the lunatic.

Orochimaru was a legendary figure, a power in his own right. Originally from the land of Fire, he was one of three Sannin, renowned ninja who'd fought in a war, centuries ago. The reason he and his former team mates weren't dead was because apparently their actions in that war had caught the attention of a Greater Dragon, who'd blessed them with immortality. If it weren't for the fact that they were all walking around, it would surely be dismissed as just another legend from those glorious days.

For the most part they stayed out of other people's business and daily lives, but Orochimaru had recently re-emerged to begin a campaign of conquest, but what did the assassin mean when he said that Gaara was in the Sannin's way? Perhaps it had to do with Orochimaru's personal vendetta against the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Konohagakure. Sand and Leaf were allies, and Gaara was lending his army to his long time friend and fellow jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto was Hokage of Konoha, just as Gaara was Kazekage of Sunagakure, the Village Hidden in the Sand.

This war that Orochimaru had brought upon Leaf, it wasn't just limited to the village. No, he also sent his troops to the other villages, the civilian ones. The Daimyo of Fire had issued the request for Leaf to send troops to protect the Daimyo's palace, even though he had the resources of the Shogun's samurai troops. But with the two nations of Fire and Wind behind him, there were better chances for success in the eventual outcome.

Standing, Gaara decided that he needed to go for a walk. It was unlikely that there would be any more assassins tonight, though he knew Baki would attempt to argue otherwise. But Gaara just wanted to find somewhere, perhaps meditate some before the sun came up. It wasn't like he would sleep, he couldn't in case the demon within tried to take over. And Gaara knew that Shukaku would _relish _the opportunity to wreak havoc.

The night was quite cool, and Gaara looked up at the moon that hung in near fullness above them. The full moon had already passed, though. Calmly he walked through the camp to the outer edge, stopped at a certain point by a concerned Baki.

"Kazekage-sama," he spoke. "Should you be going out there alone?"

"I will be fine, Baki," Gaara assured him. "I am more than capable of defending myself."

"I know this," Baki said with a wry, downward twist of his lips. "But you shouldn't have to. The men here are meant to protect you, as you are their Kage."

"And they really did a fine job tonight," Gaara said.

There was no malice in his tone, no judgement, but Baki took it to be so. "They cannot be blamed for this," he said. "I have spoken to the men; all avenues in and out were covered. Whoever the assassins were, they were obviously elite."

"They were the Silent Squad," Gaara told him, and watched Baki's brows furrow in confusion.

"I thought they specialised in taking out targets while they slept?" he asked.

Gaara just shrugged and walked on past him.

He walked until eventually he came to a small stream with an overhang of sorts, and Gaara utilised his sand to get up to the top of it. Once up there, he looked out over the basically flat landscape of River Country, deciding that this was a good place to meditate. He could see for some distance around him, and would definitely be able to tell if someone was coming. He settled onto the rock then closed his eyes, meditating and strengthening his mind.

It must have been only a few hours later, as the sun had not yet risen, when he sensed someone coming. He released a tendril of sand to intercept the intruder, and when they were close enough, it latched onto their foot and hoisted them up in the air and right in front of him.

"Woah! Hey! This is no way to treat the Mighty Toad Sage!" a voice called indignantly, and Gaara let them go in mild surprise.

An undignified yelp accompanied a crash as the person landed on the ground, and Gaara stood, jumping lightly down to the ground and staring down at his unwelcome visitor. The old man before him ruffled his mane of white hair and glared up at him with all the indignity of a pouting child.

"What a way to greet an old friend," muttered Jiraiya, a Sannin in the flesh, to Gaara's private wondering.

Ignoring the Toad Sage's tone, Gaara extended a hand and asked, "That's what happens when you sneak up on me, rōjin."

Jiraiya took the extended hand, then dusted his clothes down. "You're a disrespectful brat, you know that?" he said. "Just like Naruto."

Gaara cocked his head. "Why are you here?" he asked. "Our last intelligence had you at the borders of Otō on a reconnaissance mission."

Jiraiya grimaced. "Don't remind me," he muttered. "I still can't believe that brat talked me into it. Ah… which brings me to why I'm here. Naruto _somehow_ managed to convince me to deliver a message to you, as well. He wants to see you to go over the information we all have so far. He wants a strategy meeting, basically."

Gaara grimaced. This could only mean that Naruto possibly had more information on the Snake Sannin, or Snake Charmer, as he was calling himself these days. That hebi bastard was as charming as a toothless old man trying to relive his glory days, which wasn't much to say the least. In any case, maybe he should go just to see whatever it was that Naruto had to say for himself.

"It should be dawn soon," Jiraiya spoke up. "Maybe we should go to your camp?"

Sighing, Gaara started walking in that direction, leaving the Sannin to follow him. They reached the camp as the sun poked its rays over the horizon, and Baki was ready to greet them.

"Jiraiya-sama," he hailed with a low bow. "It is an honour to have you in our camp. Are you hungry? Our cooks are preparing our morning meal as we speak."

"I would be delighted to partake of your hospitality," Jiraiya said, and followed Baki to the mess tent.

Gaara, in the meantime, decided that he would head into his tent and grab some clothing, then head back to the stream to bathe. He selected a simple hakama and uwangi combination before heading out of the tent. There was no need to linger, he simply washed off the excess sweat and such gained from all this travelling, then put on his clothes, which also included fundoshi. As he returned to camp, he quickly tied a thin obi around his uwangi, and then looked up to see that Jiraiya was with his men, chatting over food and fire. He approached them and they all looked up.

"Join us, Kazekage-sama," Baki invited, and Gaara nodded in acceptance, gathering his own bowl and spooning food into it.

The sun was well and truly up now, though still quite low on the horizon, as they discussed their plans for getting to Naruto's location. "He wasn't too far off the border from River when I left him," Jiraiya told them. "It should take you two, maybe three days to reach him, depending on how quickly you go and when you leave."

"Not until all the men are fed and packed up," Baki said, "which will probably be mid morning."

Jiraiya nodded his understanding of this.

Once the morning meal was done, the men immediately got to the job of taking down the tents and packing them away, bundling them onto the packhorses, and then finally it was time to go. They travelled nonstop until the sun began to set, then camp was made once more. This then meant that another day or two was what they needed to reach Naruto's location.

All throughout the day, Jiraiya had ridden up front with Gaara and Baki, but once they stopped, he went back to regaling the men with tales of his exploits, and not necessarily of the shinobi kind. The Toad Sage was, after all, a well known pervert. He wasn't sure how he felt about the influence the Sannin was having on his men…

In any case, it was while they were all sitting down for their evening meal when Gaara first felt the surge of chakra. It was small, hardly worth paying attention to, except that it was growing at an increasing rate. Any men in the camp with shinobi training worth a damn froze as the chakra grew to an exponential proportion, then a light flared through the camp, momentarily blinding them. Gaara leapt to his feet once it had passed and ran in the direction he'd first felt it, Baki, Jiraiya and a few others hot on his heels.

Pushing through the light foliage, Gaara stopped when he came across a most unusual sight. There, lying in a heap, was a woman in a rather exquisite silk kimono. The others stopped short behind him, and he could only imagine that they were gaping as he really wanted to, but was too stubborn to do so. He took a tentative step forward, coming to a halt when the woman groaned.

"Be careful, Kazekage-sama," Baki cautioned, but Gaara ignored him, stepping forward once more.

He stood over the woman, once more marvelling at the detail of her kimono, then noticed that her hair was pink, of all things. While he had indeed seen pink hair before, it was usually only on civilians. He knelt down and turned her over, noting the delicate shape of her face. For reasons unknown to him, he pulled her into his arms, lifting her up and heading back to camp with her.

"Is this wise?" Baki asked, but once again he was ignored.

He carried her all the way to his tent and placed her on his makeshift cot before making the decision to remove her clothes and place her into something more practical. It was definitely _not _because of Jiraiya's influence, though as he changed her, he couldn't help but take a peek. Once it was done, he sighed and though, _'I'm sure to go to jigóku for this…'_

**So, I hope that was good. I like the increase in the word count, as well as the different angle I wrote from for the assassins. Plus, I got more information off the net about Japanese clothing and incorporated it into this. I've got a glossary for the Japanese words…**

_Mokútō: Silent Prayer._

_Rōjin: An old man._

_Hebi: Snake._

_Hakama: Traditional samurai style pants._

_Uwangi: A traditional jacket styled the same as a kimono._

_Fundoshi: Traditional Japanese undergarments, mostly worn by men._

_Obi: A belt used to keep multiple items of clothing together, such as kimono._

_Shogun: Emperor's military leader._

_Jigóku: Hell._

**Anyway, make sure you review to let me know what you think of the rewrite, I **_**really **_**want to know!**


	3. Awake And Frustrated

**Next one! My god, I had problems with this! Anyway, enjoy and remember that I don't own Naruto!**

**Chapter Three – Awake And Frustrated**

She woke to the sensation of light, fluttering touches, and her eyes slowly opened to see a pair of blue jade eyes staring at her. Sakura's brain wasn't really registering much, and for a moment she simply stared into those beautiful pools, before her eyes widened and she shot up to a sitting position. The eyes before her looked amused, then her senses took in what was beyond those eyes and she saw that they belonged to a red headed man she'd never seen before in her entire life.

"Who are you?" she demanded, then looked around to see they were in some sort of tent. "Why am I here? Did you kidnap me or something?"

The man, whose red hair was the colour of dark blood, looked even more amused at the suggestion. "Why would I need to kidnap you?" he asked. "I'm sure there isn't anything in the world you could offer me that I couldn't get anywhere else. Though I must admit, your goods are definitely something else."

At those words, he looked her up and down suggestively and Sakura blushed. "Iya na yatsu!" she yelled. "Hentai!"

He was still laughing at her, and Sakura was beyond furious. She raised her arm and struck out, meaning to slap him across his idiot face, but then sand came out of nowhere and grabbed her wrists. Her jaw dropped at the sight of sand _moving by itself!_ How in Kami's name was that even possible?

"You cannot hurt me," he sneered, and it replaced his amused demeanour. "I am, after all, the feared tanuki vessel!"

Feared? Sakura had no idea what he was going on about, but she decided to glare at him. "I don't give a shit who you are!" she declared. "But you'd better take me back home before the police find you!"

He still had a hold of her wrist, and he used that to pull her to him. "I _am_ the law!" he told her. "You wandered to _my_ encampment, you are under _my _authority! I will decide where you go, baíshunfu!"

Sakura's eyes widened at the insult and she opened her mouth to dispute him, but then his lips were upon hers and he was pushing her back onto the blankets. His hands roved over her body and she moaned as one slipped under what little she was wearing and cupped her breast, squeezing it harshly. He lay atop her now, mouth ravaging hers, hand molesting her breast. Finally Sakura found the strength to push him back.

"Get off me you bastard!" she hissed, pushing him completely off her and onto the floor.

She sat up and rearranged whatever she was wearing (she'd take a closer look later) and glared down at him. "Return me, and maybe my father will be lenient with you."

Her father's word meant a lot in Japan, after all.

"Your father?" the man before her sneered, standing to tower over her. "_No one_ can tell me what to do!"

What an arrogant bastard! Sakura was fuming with rage, but before she could say anything more, there was a scratching noise, and a strange looking man all but barged into the tent.

"Gaara!" he spoke, ignoring Sakura's presence. "Scouts have reported a regiment of ninja's and brigands coming over the south ridge. They seem to be Orochimaru's men. Should we deploy troops out there to intercept them?"

The red head nodded. "I will accompany the men, Baki," he said, then turned to Sakura. "We will continue this later, _my Lady_."

Then he was gone and Sakura was left alone to ponder what had happened to her.

OoOoO

Gaara strode along quickly with Baki to the edge of camp where some men were already waiting for them. The woman was a mystery to him, and he intended to find out where she'd come from. Already he'd decided she _wasn't_ a whore, despite the rather fancy kimono she'd been wearing. Yet not just anyone had clothing of that exquisite quality. Perhaps she was a nobleman's daughter? Then why was she all the way out here? Had she run away from home or something? Maybe she was escaping an arranged marriage?

But then why the elaborate kimono? Surely runaway ladies would try to be more inconspicuous than that? Perhaps she had simply been travelling with a retinue and they'd been attacked? Maybe the chakra they'd sensed had been her attackers. But then what was that flash of light? If there were attackers, why hadn't he been able to find any sign of them?

Too many questions, and absolutely no answers.

Deciding to worry about it later, he focused instead on getting out to the enemy with his men. It was the reason they were out here, after all, to take on the enemy to ensure the safety of the civilian population.

"Baki!" he called. "How many were there of the enemy?"

"At least thirty ranks," Baki told him. "Their standard civilian reaper group."

Gaara swore, knowing that there was a small village not far from here, one of the few actually in River Country. "Four squads should be able to handle it," he decided, and Baki nodded his agreement. "I'll lead, let's get going."

Barely five minutes later, his well prepared men were done, armed and mounted and ready for battle. Gaara was quite honestly proud of his men, they were among the best in Japan, after all. He gave the signal then and they moved out. It should only take them ten minutes to reach the enemy.

Sure enough, about ten minutes later one of his men gave a prearranged signal that meant that the enemy had been spotted, and Gaara ordered the charge. With a battle cry, they surged forward, engaging the enemy troops, who were surprised at first, but then fought back equally ferociously. Gaara was using a combination of his sand and his sword, ending the lives of several at a time.

Normally Gaara would have just swept in with his sand and it would have been over quickly. But he knew that his men had been itching for a good fight recently, and as a good leader he was not one to deny them. Truth be told, he'd been a little antsy himself lately, and physically taking down the enemy instead of willing his sand to crush them was rather satisfying. At the end of the day, he and his men were releasing their tension, and what better way than to kill a bunch of murderers?

The fight was over rather quickly, and Baki did a quick head count, reporting back that no one had died or been badly hurt. The worst injury was a slash across a cheek, and Gaara felt proud of his men. He gave the order then for them to return to camp, and they did so at a much more relaxed pace.

As normal, Baki rode beside him. "That was a good fight," the man said. "The men have been restless lately, and at least these ones got to release that somewhat."

Gaara nodded his agreement. "I have noticed the tension," he said. "I have felt it myself as well. I must admit, though, I wish that there had been more of them, I still feel a little tense."

"Perhaps you should find a woman to take to your bed," Baki suggested with a sly grin. "_That_ would definitely release a lot of tension."

"We are in the middle of a war, Baki," Gaara reminded him. "I don't think that there would be either time or opportunity for that."

"What of the woman in your tent?" Baki asked. "Surely there's time and opportunity there?"

Gaara had nearly forgotten the woman, to be honest, but he shook his head at the suggestion. "I know we thought she's a baíshunfu," he said, "but her reactions when I treated her as such, and some things she said makes me think that perhaps she's a noble's daughter. She mentioned her father in a way that makes me think everyone knows who he is or something."

Baki sighed. "Disappointing," he said, "but don't forget the rules of war. We found her practically inside our camp, which puts her completely under your jurisdiction, especially since you are Kazekage, and this is neutral territory."

They arrived back at the camp then, and Gaara decided to think over Baki's words.

OoOoO

Earlier, when the man Gaara had left Sakura alone in the tent, her temper had begun to get the better of her. How dared he speak to her like that? She was no whore, dammit! She paced restlessly, the wheels in her brain already going over any and all escape plans she could think of. How the hell was she going to get back home? She had no idea how long she'd been out, it could have been days, and she had no idea where she was!

Sakura had been mortified mixed with furious when it had eventually dawned on her that someone had changed her. She was wearing a kosode, one long enough to cover certain things, and nothing else. Those damned perverts! It was probably that red head, too! She wanted to murder him with her bare hands, but when she thought of that sand moving all on its own, she was more than a little terrified. How the hell had that happened!

Sand was _not_ supposed to be able to move on its own. Something was going on here, something beyond the normal, and it scared and irritated the hell out of her. Really, if she was being held for ransom, why hadn't anyone contacted her parents? Or maybe they had and they just hadn't told her. But surely kidnappers would brag? And what the heck was all that about ninjas and brigands before? Her temper was rising again and Sakura decided she was getting the hell out of here.

Looking around she saw a small trunk and opened it. There were a lot of ordinary things in there, as well as clothing. She found her kimono at the bottom of it and wished she could take it with her, but she really didn't want to carry anything. None of her underwear was in here though, and she swore at that. She found a pair of pants, and, pulling them out, thought that they looked a bit like hakama pants. Shrugging, she pulled them on and then peeked out the tent's entrance.

What she saw shocked her. It was like she was in the middle of some historical recreation! Men were wandering about, some in full samurai armour! Sakura's jaw dropped at how authentic everything looked, her mother would _love_ this! Pushing that thought aside, she retreated back into the tent and towards the back, looking for a spot she could loosen it enough to slip out. Eventually she found a spot and yanked the surprisingly light material up, pulling a few supports out as well.

Sakura slipped under it and crept away, keeping an eye out for anyone who might spot her. Once she felt that she was far enough, she broke into a run, not really caring where she was going, as long as it was _away_ from those savages! The first town or house she came across, she was calling the police! She was so glad to get away that she blissfully ignored the occasional sharp or prodding stone she stood on as she ran.

But she didn't get very far before some sand came out of nowhere and grabbed her by the waist, yanking her backwards and around to face a very angry red head.

OoOoO

When Gaara walked into the tent and saw the girl was missing, and the back of his tent yanked out slightly, he was angry. How dared she run off? Immediately he turned around and outside where he headed to the back of his tent and looked for her trail. He scoffed when he saw that she'd made no attempt to conceal her direction. Either that or she didn't realise the trail she'd left, but either way, he was bringing her back. No matter what was going on here, there were a lot of dangerous people out there and she could get hurt.

The irony of the fact that _he_ was just as dangerous, if not more so, was not lost on Gaara.

It took him less than a minute to find her, then even less time to get to her location. Immediately he sent his sand out and dragged her back, feeling inordinately pleased at the shocked and then angry look on her face. Kami, she was quite beautiful when infuriated, and he decided then and there that she was going to be his eventually, whether she liked it or not. But despite the rumours, he wasn't a monster, and he wouldn't force himself on her. Maybe he'd _encourage_ her along a bit, but he was no rapist.

"And where do you think you're going?" he asked, keeping his tone as neutral as possible.

"Away from you!" she snapped at him, struggling futilely against his sand. "You can't keep me prisoner!"

Gaara commanded his sand to bring her right to him, and he grabbed her arms, letting his sand fall as he took hold of her. "You are not a prisoner," he told her, "but I cannot let you wander around on your own. There is a war going on, and it is too dangerous for a woman as beautiful as you to be alone."

She flushed when he called her beautiful, then demanded, "What war? Japan hasn't been at war since…"

Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened, and he figured that she must have realised something because she didn't continue. Gaara pulled her completely into his arms and teleported then both back to camp, directly into his tent. She gasped and looked around them.

"How in the hell did you do that?" she demanded.

Gaara shrugged. "I have had power over sand my entire life," he told her, "thanks to Shukaku."

He knew he sounded a little bitter, and she looked at him strangely, then she asked, "Er, that guy called you Gaara, is that your name?"

Gaara nodded. "What is your name?"

"Sakura."

It suited her. "Well, Sakura," Gaara said. "How about you tell me how you got here. What was that light? Were you attacked and brought here?"

OoOoO

Light? What light?

That was Sakura's thought, until she remembered that when she'd touched the katana inside the museum, a bright light had been there too. Maybe it was what had brought her into the past. Yes, Sakura figured that either she was in some whacked out rich guy's recreation fantasy, or she'd somehow been transported into the past. As a lover of sci-fi, it was a concept she'd definitely heard of, but hadn't really thought possible.

"I don't know what the light was," she told… Gaara. "All I know was that I was in the museum with Sasu… er… a friend, and then I touched a sword and ended up here."

She saw him raise an eyebrow… wait! Where were his eyebrows? Her own eyes narrowed and she realised that there was an extremely fine line along dark rings around his eyes, almost completely unnoticeable. Anyone who wasn't looking closely would think that he didn't have any, but she was getting off topic.

Anyway, he raised an eyebrow at her, like he didn't really believe her. "You touched a sword?" he asked sceptically.

"Yes!" she snapped at him. "I don't care if you believe me or not, but that's what happened!"

He stared at her a moment longer and then sighed. "It doesn't really matter," he told her. "You're here now, and you have to stay with us, it's for your own safety. We will be leaving soon, and though I see you've already found some more clothes, I want you to help pack the camp up. No matter how you got here, you're going to be pulling your weight."

He took her arm and led her out of the tent.

**Ok, some people have expressed concerns about reviewing a chapter they had in the past. In that particular case, anyone who can't review a chapter is more than welcome to PM me. Everyone else, review!**

_Today's glossary:_

_Iya na yatsu: Calling someone a beast._

_Hentai: Pervert._

_Kami: God._

_Kosode: Shirt whose name means, short sleeved._

_Baíshunfu: Whore, prostitute._


	4. Travels And Ambush Surprises

**New chappie! Enjoy. I don't own Naruto…**

**Chapter Four – Travels And Ambush Surprises**

She had been put to work packing up the mess tent, and she was feeling absolutely miserable. Not because of the packing, though, it was because of the direction her thoughts were going in. The past. How could she be in the past? She'd heard a few of the men talking, and nothing they said resembled anything from the present. _Her_ present. They talked about their weapons and their next fight, the Shōgun and his samurais, Daimyos…

It all seemed so _real_.

But _how_? How on earth had she ended up here? Sakura had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with that blasted sword, and she cursed the damned thing under her breath. If it really was the conduit for bringing her here, then maybe there was a way back? Was the sword in existence right now? If it was, then maybe…

All the men were treating her with respect, she noticed, and Sakura had a feeling it had to do with that irritating red head. When he'd dumped her with the men packing up the mess tent, he'd said something to them that she couldn't hear, and the strange looks they'd given her when Gaara had dragged her over there had disappeared. Since then, they'd been nothing but polite to her.

They were nearly done with the packing, anyway. Sakura figured that they hadn't been planning on lingering here, but her arrival had changed that. But now that she was on her own two feet, so to speak, it seemed the waiting was over. One of the men came over to her, she'd learned his name was Hachiro, and that he'd been serving in Gaara's little army for about four years now. He was seventeen years old, and when she'd figured that meant he'd joined at thirteen, she wasn't too happy with the way this _past_ thing worked.

"Sakura-san," Hachiro said. "Everything's packed now, would you mind giving us a hand putting it on the wagon?"

Sakura smiled. "Sure Hachiro," she said, wondering how many more of the people here had joined an army so young.

There were three wagons, Sakura noted, and they all seemed to be enough to carry all of their provisions. Hachiro had told here that there were twelve regiments here, as well as a Captain for each group. Then there were the three generals and the Kazekage as well. That was one hundred and thirty six men, and then he mentioned that a Sannin, whatever the hell that was, was also here, bringing the total count to one hundred and thirty seven in total. And that was not including _her_.

The title Kazekage was familiar to her, and Sakura'd racked her brains for awhile before she'd realised that that was the title of the leader of the village of Suna, just as Hokage had been the title of the leader of Konoha. So Gaara was a Kazekage, then? No wonder he'd been so arrogant and declared that _he_ was the law earlier! In any case, Sakura decided she wasn't going to give him any deferential treatment, no matter what.

"So you're the mysterious woman," a voice said, startling her, and Sakura turned to see a man with white hair grinning at her. "I'm Jiraiya, pleased to meet you."

Jiraiya? That name sounded familiar, but Sakura couldn't place it, so she ignored it. "I'm Sakura," she said.

"Well, Sakura," Jiraiya spoke. "Gaara wants you to join him right now. We're moving out, and he wants you to ride up front with him. I think he just wants to keep an eye on you, to be honest."

"An eye on me?" Sakura asked, arching her brow as she followed Jiraiya. "What does that mean?"

"It means he wants to make sure he can protect you if any fighting breaks out," Jiraiya said, then burst out laughing. "You should see the look on your face! You look absolutely _furious_!"

Well of course she was furious! Sakura was more than capable of looking after herself. She'd learned martial arts, after all, from none other than Lee, who was Konoha's national champion along with Kiba, who was a local champion. Not to mention that she knew how to handle a few weapons also, thanks to Sasuke. His father's collection hadn't all been just for show. Both Sasuke and his older brother had been taught how to use most of the weapons, and Sasuke had taught her before, during and after they'd dated. And of course Lee had also taught Tenten, who'd caught on the quickest, and Ino as well. But Sakura's blonde friend hadn't really gotten into it, and had complained that she was constantly breaking her nails.

"Of course I'm angry!" Sakura snapped. "I can look after myself!"

"Well, maybe you'll get to prove that soon," Jiraiya said, "but for now, up the front please."

Muttering under her breath about chauvinistic males, Sakura followed the old man to where Gaara stood waiting for her… with a horse.

OoOoO

Gaara had sent Jiraiya to fetch Sakura about ten minutes ago, and he wondered what was taking the old pervert so long to find her. He _knew_ where the mess tent had been, so where were they? It's not like they had all the time in the world, Sakura's arrival had already delayed them an entire day, though he hadn't really let his thoughts focus on that. Still, they were at long last getting under way today, and Gaara fully intended to make up for lost time.

Finally he saw them coming, and he scowled at the Sannin, letting his displeasure be made known. And of course, Jiraiya simply shrugged the red head's ire off and mounted his own horse. Deciding to ignore the Sannin, Gaara turned to Sakura.

"Do you know how to ride a horse?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, her voice a bit sharp. "But I haven't for years."

"Then maybe you should ride with me," he said, "just until you get used to it again."

Gaara leapt up onto his palomino stallion and turned to her as she started to yell at him. "I can ride one on my own just fine, thanks!" she snapped at him. "So you can just… Hey! Put me down!"

He'd reached sown and pulled her up in front of him, and was settling her despite her squirming and protesting. Gaara caught Baki's eye and noticed that his general was smirking at Sakura's predicament. The red head raised an eyebrow and Baki looked away, but the smirk remained. The woman began to struggle some more and Gaara had to put some effort into keeping her still.

"Stop wriggling!" he commanded. "Do you _want_ to fall off?"

"I _want_ to ride on my own!" she snapped.

"Too bad," she was told, then he gave the order for them to move out.

The way Gaara had pulled Sakura up had landed her in a side saddle position, so when she started wriggling again, this time to swing her leg over, he used his sand to yank her leg up and over. "I could have done that myself," she told him a little haughtily.

"Maybe," he told her. "But now you don't have to."

She 'humphed!' and proceeded to ignore him.

As they rode, Gaara couldn't help but feel how soft her skin was, as he had his arms about her waist to hold the reins. And of course, since she _was_ sitting right in front of him, her hair would sometimes blow in his face, and it felt nice against his face. He briefly wondered what it would feel like thoroughly washed and scented, then forced those thoughts away before problems could come up. That had been quite a real predicament since he'd seen her naked, even though she'd been unconscious at the time. No need to tell her that, though.

Still, he couldn't deny that Sakura was an incredibly beautiful woman. For some reason, she brought out the protective instincts in him, which was the main reason he'd been angry when she'd attempted to run off earlier. And having her ride up here with him, on his horse, that was something else as well. What was it about this woman that made him feel these things? Ever since she'd arrived, he'd felt connected to her, and he had no idea why.

It was no secret, really, that he had trust issues. After the upbringing he'd had, no one could really blame him for his basic lack of trust in his fellow humans. Very few had his unwavering loyalty; Baki was one, then his siblings and Naruto as well. The trust he placed in his men was different though. He was their leader, they were honour-bound to serve him, it was completely different.

Gaara wondered what sort of life Sakura'd had. Was she the spoilt daughter of some nobleman? If so, then she was bearing up remarkably well, all things considered. Her soft skin denoted a life of luxury. He threaded his fingers through hers, ignoring the fact that she stiffened almost immediately, and could feel only one, maybe two, callouses. If she wasn't nobility, then she was something close.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he countered.

"You're holding my hands," she said. "Let go."

"I don't think so," he told her. "You're under my judicial protection, I can touch any part of you I want."

If it was possible, she stiffened even further. "I'll kill you if you try!" she hissed.

"If the best assassins in Japan cannot kill me," Gaara said, amusement in his voice, "then what makes you think that _you_ stand a chance?"

She was about to reply, he could practically _feel_ the malevolence radiating off of her, when a volley of arrows came out of nowhere and landed right in front of them.

"An ambush!" one of his Generals yelled, and immediately Gaara sent his sand out of his gourd, which was strapped to the back of his horse.

Normally it would be too heavy for the animal, but there was a seal on the gourd that lightened it for this particular use. He made his sand form a defensive perimeter, vaguely hearing his generals round up some troops. They immediately took off towards the direction the arrows had come from, and Gaara placed the reins firmly in Sakura's hands before leaping off his horse.

"Keep a hold of the reins and wait here," he ordered Sakura, then summoned his gourd and was gone after his men and the enemy in a swirl of sand.

OoOoO

Sakura had been on the verge of a nervous breakdown right from the moment Gaara had yanked her up on his horse. With her back pressed against his chest, she could _feel_ his heartbeat, and it was driving her nuts, but in a way that she really didn't want it to.

It was true, Gaara was very handsome, and the sound of his voice right behind her made shivers go up and down her spine. She was quite frankly surprised he hadn't said anything about it, but then his proximity had made her muscles stiffen, so maybe that had prevented him from feeling it? In any case, Sakura'd realised that she was feeling a mild attraction to the man, despite the fact that she wanted so much to hate him, but couldn't. So she took it out on the way she spoke to him instead.

And then he'd gone and grasped her hands in his, though the reins had been between them. But what was a thin scrap of leather, really, when those strong hands had gripped hers almost gently? His refusal to let go had threatened to drive her over that edge and into insanity…

And now he'd left her behind while he ran off to fight a bunch of his enemy? She had to admit, it had terrified her when those arrows had come out of nowhere to land right in front of them. Either the enemy were shit shots, or they'd missed on purpose for some reason. Stupid, really. If Sakura'd been aiming an arrow at Gaara, she definitely wouldn't have missed!

No more thoughts of that sort were allowed to gather in her head when suddenly more arrows came at them from the side and a _whole lot_ of the enemy came running at them, making Sakura realise that they'd been surrounded. "Sakura!" she heard Jiraiya call to her, but she didn't have the opportunity to respond before an arrow imbedded itself in the rump of her mount and then she was clinging desperately to its mane as it reared in pain, and then bolted.

Desperately she tried to regain control of the spooked and injured horse, calling on everything she could remember from her childhood lessons. Finally, the horse slowed and then stopped, and Sakura patted it gently.

"If I pull the arrow out, will you stay still?" she asked it, feeling a little stupid for doing so, but the answering whiney caused her to sigh and continue, "Well, it's going to hurt, I won't lie. Just… don't bolt, ok?"

The horse whinnied again, then Sakura reached back to grab the arrow, then realised that she should probably dismount, just in case. Hoisting her leg over, she slipped off the horse and moved to where the arrow was protruding from its flesh. She gripped the offending item, making shushing noises when the animal shifted nervously, then carefully pulled the arrow out.

The horse whinnied loudly, but didn't bolt, and Sakura grabbed a water skin from the pack and cleaned out the wound. "You know," she said, "maybe if I get back home, I could look into a Veterinary career? Then again, maybe not. That would mean more studying, not that that's a bad thing. Maybe I'll just get a horse. Or a cat."

"Too bad you're not going anywhere," a voice said, and Sakura whirled around to see a man coming towards her, sword in hand.

OoOoO

The instant Gaara realised that the enemy in front of them was just a diversion, he doubled back to find that his men were under attack from two sides. Rushing forward, he joined in the fray, slaughtering the enemy efficiently with his sand. They fell before him easily, none of them able to withstand his attacks. And then they began to fall back, perhaps realising that they'd bitten off more than they could chew.

Normally Gaara would have gone after them and crushed them all, but he had a whole caravan of men to see to, not to mention Sakura… Wait, where was she? He looked around and couldn't see any sign of her. Panic began rising in him, so much so that he failed to respond at first to his name being called.

"Gaara!" Jiraiya yelled, finally getting through to him. "Sakura's horse was hit and it bolted. I tried to get to her, but we were overwhelmed."

"Which way?" Gaara demanded, and was off as soon as the Sannin indicated.

How could he have been so stupid to leave her unguarded like that? Not that he'd realised that there were more of the enemy than he'd realised. Obviously they'd concealed their chakra. But that wasn't the point. The point was that, as he ran through the light patch of trees that had been their ambush, he heard a cry that sounded exactly like Sakura.

**So, remember to review! And to those who've already read the old chapters, are you liking the differences? I think my writing style has waaay improved, and I'm getting much more info out. That's what I think, anyway.**


	5. Battle Scars

**Chapter! Woot! Enjoy, and I don't own Naruto…**

**Chapter Five – Battle Scars**

"_Too bad you're not going anywhere."_

Sakura stared this guy down. He was filthy, his clothes haphazardly hanging off him. They weren't rags or anything, it just looked like he didn't know how to dress himself. And then of course, that rather maniacal grin on his face left his sanity in question.

"I'm not going anywhere?" she asked. "Just who do you think you are to tell me what to do?"

The guy stepped forward then, and licked his lips lasciviously. "Ooh, you've got some spirit," he leered, then lunged at her.

Sakura easily dodged him and kicked her foot out as he stumbled past her, tripping him. He landed on the ground with a thud, and Sakura took his weapon from him. "I've definitely got plenty of spirit," she agreed with him, bending down to his level. "But now I'm afraid it's time for you to go to sleep."

She whacked him with the hilt of his own sword and watched in satisfaction as his eyes glazed over and he fell unconscious. There was no way she was going to kill him, no matter whether this really was the past or just some whacked out dream of hers. She was a doctor, not a murderer. Standing back up, Sakura looked around for her horse, making her way back to the poor skittish thing until some clapping had her freezing in her tracks.

"Well done, little girl," a voice said, and she turned to see another man standing there, and his armour and stance had her thinking that this guy was definitely no pushover like the other one. "You took Shiro out quite easily, but nobody can deny he was nothing but a dud. But then what can you expect from some useless mercenary? _I _on the other hand, _I'm_ a samurai of the Sound!"

He drew his sword and came at her, his eyes widening slightly when she parried his attack with her stolen sword. Thank kami Sasuke had taught her to use those weapons, or she would have been done for by now. The Sound guy continued to attack, and Sakura continued to successfully block his moves, though she knew that she was going to have to do more than that. She altered her stance to an offensive one, and attacked.

If he was surprised at her ability to defend herself, then he was definitely surprised when she turned offensive on him. Sakura knew she had to stay on her guard, there was no guarantee who would win. Even the best swordsman can be disarmed by an unfamiliar move, and she was hoping it wouldn't be her. Even though she really wasn't the best swords_woman_, she was still pretty decent with a sword. Still, Sasuke's father had commented on her skill once, and she figured it was because Lee and Kiba had already been teaching her to fight by then.

"Not bad," he panted as he tried to get past her defences. "But your technique is lacking. _I _will be victorious and take your head back to my master as proof of my loyalty!"

"No fucking way!" Sakura hissed, and twisted her arm, catching him off guard and disarming him, to her private elation.

"How!" the man before her demanded, looking gobsmacked.

"No matter how skilled you are, you can still be beaten by someone who knows a technique that you don't," Sakura said, pointing the business end of the sword at his throat. "Now go away."

"You're not going to kill me?" he asked, a slight sneer of derision in his voice at the thought.

"I'm not a killer," she told him, adding when he glanced at the other guy, "That guy's only unconscious."

He sneered at her again before backing away. And then Sakura made the mistake of lowering her guard, and he took advantage of that. So she was unable to do anything but cry out as his fist flew at her and connected sharply with the side of her face.

OoOoO

'_Sakura!'_

Gaara burst into the clearing to see Sakura on the ground and a samurai standing over her, arms raised and sword ready to end her life. Instinctively he reacted, sending his sand out to crush the man, who let out a rather undignified shriek as he died. Then Gaara rushed forward and pulled Sakura up on her feet and drew her close into his arms. Burying his face in her hair, he breathed deep and let himself relax now that she was safe.

He could feel her stiffen, and then slowly relax as he held her, though he wasn't really sure why he felt so… happy that she was fine. After a moment, she wrapped her arms around him and said, "I'm fine, Gaara, really."

He pulled back from her slightly, looking down at her to see a bruise forming on her cheek. He raised his hand and touched her cheek gingerly with his fingers, instantly pulling them away as she winced. Their eyes met and he leaned down slightly, noting that he eyes widened a moment before his lips captured hers. It was only briefly, though, then he was pulling away, grabbing the reigns of the horse before noticing that the animal was injured as well. A quick inspection had him noting that the wound wasn't too bad and that the animal would still be able to carry them both, so he mounted the horse, pulling Sakura up with him once more.

He turned the animal back towards the caravan and soon enough his men came into sight. Baki instantly came forward. "Kazekage-sama!" he exclaimed, then seemed to calm himself and went on, "The enemy have been routed, and the men are ready to move on."

Gaara nodded. "Let's get going then," he commanded.

They rode hard, and Gaara wouldn't let them stop, even when night fell. He ordered some men to pass out rations, but other than that, they continued on. He was determined to get to Naruto as soon as possible, because then at least they would have a modicum of safety. Eventually, though, they had to stop before his men fell asleep in the saddle. While Gaara was more than capable of going without sleep, his men weren't.

They were still a day away from where Jiraiya had told them Naruto was camping when they stopped, and Gaara knew because of their stop, it would possibly increase to a day and a half before they reached his old friend. All these delays were becoming tiresome, but there was nothing for it, he supposed. He ordered tents set up, but only the minimum required, as he didn't want to waste a whole morning packing them up again. Most of the men would be sleeping in nebúkuro to save time, then. Once he was sure that everything was going smoothly, Gaara left Sakura with Baki and Jiraiya and went looking for a medic to take a closer look at her cheek.

OoOoO

When they stopped, _finally_, Sakura's lips were still tingling from the soft kiss Gaara had given her. Why had he kissed her? Was he attracted to her as she was to him? Well, whether he was or not, she certainly wasn't going to do anything stupid like jump into bed with him, as he probably wanted her to. He was a guy, after all. In any case, she knew that he cared, though how much or why wasn't obvious to her. His reaction when he'd found that samurai about to do her in…

Honestly, Sakura was also still trying to get over the way Gaara had wrapped that unnatural sand of his around the guy and proceeded to kill him. As a doctor, Sakura's instincts were to _preserve_ life, not take it, or just sit there and watch it be taken away. But she'd been so shocked and hadn't been able to utter a word at first. Not until Gaara had pulled her to him, and she'd been overwhelmed by the smell of his _very_ male aroma.

She grimaced at her reactions, then winced as her face hurt. That samurai had sure packed quite a punch, and she knew that she wouldn't be surprised if her cheekbone was fractured. If only she had access to an x-ray or something, then maybe she could find out, but here, in this practically backwater time? Sakura sighed and resigned herself to a slow and painful healing process.

Sakura had no idea where Gaara'd gone. He'd simply dumped her with Baki and Jiraiya, then he'd taken off. Baki was staying a good distance from her, whilst still keeping her in his sight, but Jiraiya was trying to engage her in conversation, undaunted by the fact that she was too distracted to really pay attention.

"…and then she tried to drug me! Can you believe it?" he was saying. "I mean, we were team mates, for crying out loud! Where's the trust?"

"Hmm."

"Sakura," Jiraiya spoke, stepping right in front of her. "You're about as talkative as Gaara right now. You alright?"

"I was just thinking about things, that's all," she said.

"Oh? What about?" was the curious question.

"Just that my face really hurts from earlier," she told him.

"Ah yes, the Sound Samurai," Jiraiya said. "You told me you knew how to look after yourself."

Sakura glared at him. "I _do_ know how to!" she told him. "I had him beat but then I was stupid and lowered my guard, that's all!"

Jiraiya chuckled. "You look so angry right now," he commented. "It reminds me of Tsunade!"

"Tsunade?" Sakura asked, realising she knew that name, but from where?

"The old team mate I was talking about, though you obviously weren't listening," he told her. "She's a force to be reckoned with, I can tell you! Temper as wild and unpredictable as nature can be!"

"Her name sounds familiar," Sakura said, then her eyes widened as it hit her.

Tsunade was the name of the woman who'd owned the Sabaku collection, and Sakura remembered her mentioning that her husband's name was Jiraiya. She eyed the man before her suspiciously before deciding that either they were ancestors and descendants, or it was just some major coincidence.

"What is it?" Jiraiya asked.

"N-nothing," Sakura told him, deeply disturbed.

The old man gave her a look that said he didn't believe her, but let it go and launched into another set of stories, and this time Sakura listened.

OoOoO

Gaara had managed to find a medic and was on his way back now. Kenzo was the best medic available, and the red head immediately made him stop what he was doing to come see to Sakura. When they arrived, they found that she and Jiraiya were talking, and Gaara wasn't sure how he felt about their getting along, considering Jiraiya's reputation with women, successful or not. He frowned as they approached and the two stopped to greet him.

"Gaara," Sakura greeted, then noted his companion. "And what is your name?"

"Kenzo, Sakura-hime," the medic said, and Gaara practically growled at the way Sakura blushed. _Hime?_ "Kazekage-sama asked me to come heal your cheek."

"Oh, well, I don't know what you could do for it," she said. "I'm pretty sure it's fractured, but other than that…"

"Oh, have you studied medicine?" Kenzo asked, then Gaara cleared his throat. "Er… I'll just take a look at that, shall I?"

Kenzo moved forward and raised his hand to her cheek, and Gaara watched impatiently as the man's chakra flowed, healing the injury. "That was amazing!" Sakura said, wide eyed. "How on earth did you do that?"

"Er, with chakra, my lady," Kenzo said, unsure of Sakura's reaction.

"Oh! Um, well thanks," she told him, and she glanced at Gaara, who determinedly remained stoic. "Do you think that you could take a look at a horse? Or do you not heal animals with your, er, chakra?"

"I can take a look," Kenzo said, and Sakura led him over to Gaara's horse.

"She's one amazing woman," Jiraiya said. "But be a little careful with Baki."

"What do you mean?" Gaara demanded.

"I think he doesn't like her," the Sannin said. "Not that I think he'll do anything, he's too loyal to you, but I would simply suggest not leaving them alone together. Sakura seems to have quite the temper, and if he says anything, something unpleasant might happen."

"Thank you for informing me," Gaara said, then asked, "Is my tent up yet?"

Jiraiya grinned. "The men made sure it was the first one up," he said. "You're still getting your tent, while most of them are stuck with nebúkuro for the night."

Gaara shrugged his indifference, then searched around for his tent, finding it not too far away. Sakura and Kenzo returned then and as the medic left, he noted Sakura staring after him with a curious expression. Anger flared in him, as well as a bit of jealousy, and he strode forward, grabbing Sakura by the wrist, pulling her towards his tent.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Let go!"

Naturally Gaara ignored her and dragged her inside his tent, pushing her down on his cot. "Get some sleep," he ordered. "We're leaving at first light."

Then he settled into a chair and closed his eyes, intending to meditate until the sun rose.

**So, what did you think? Review!**

_Nebúkuro: Sleeping bag._

_Hime: Princess._


	6. Travels Through Old Japan

**New chapter! Yay! I've been so bored since I quit my job a couple of months ago, though it's really hitting me now. At first the boredom was great, it was the kind I could use to write, but now it really sucks. I'm sooo bored and I miss working! I need to find a new job soon or I'm gonna either go nuts with the boredom or just get too damned lazy to look for work!**

**Anyway, enjoy and remember that I don't own the characters and places in this except those I completely made up myself…**

**Chapter Six – Travels Through Old Japan**

When the camp awoke the next morning, it was to find that Jiraiya had left. The shinobi on watch reported to their Kazekage that apparently a toad had appeared, a summons, no doubt, and the Sannin had left shortly after, looking more than a little agitated. In any case, Gaara had been notified immediately, and now his men were preparing to leave. First though, Gaara had to wake Sakura up.

Kneeling beside the beautiful pinkette, Gaara allowed himself to indulge in simply watching her sleep. Her expression was so peaceful, and he was envious of that, though he no longer held any grudges for those that could slumber. Reaching out, he tucked a stray strand of her cherry hair behind her ear and sighed at the thought of how quickly she was worming her way under his skin.

Never before had he ever felt such strong, protective instincts like this, and it was confusing him. He didn't even care about his siblings this much, though he would definitely go through a lot for them. But whatever he wouldn't do for them, he felt that he would probably do whatever was necessary for Sakura. And that was the most confusing part of it all. Who was she, really, to invoke such things in him?

His 'protectiveness' angered him a lot, and even though he never showed it, it was always there, lurking under the surface. Though if he had to admit it, it wasn't a very strong anger, and it was mostly directed at himself. Ever since that night she'd appeared, he'd wondered about her arrival, how she'd ended up there with absolutely no tracks around her. And then there was the chakra, and the flash of light, too.

He hadn't said anything at the time, or since then, but the chakra had been familiar to him. And unfamiliar as well. It was actually as if someone had mashed a few chakras together, and he'd sensed them all at once. Curious how that felt, it was nothing like if there had been more than one person there, more like several people in one body. And sometimes when he looked at Sakura, he could still feel that eerie sensation and it drew him in…

Shaking his thoughts away, Gaara moved the hand that had ended up stroking Sakura's hair to her shoulder and gently shook her awake. "Sakura," he said. "Get up, we're leaving."

Her eyes opened and she looked up at him groggily, then asked, "Can I _please_ have my own horse today?"

He chuckled. "Maybe," he told her.

She yawned and then sat up rather abruptly, bringing her rather close to him, and their proximity bothered him a moment before his eyes fell to her lips. There was a slight pout to them, possible due to the fact that he hadn't agreed to let her ride on her own. But it caused his breath to stop and his heart to beat faster. Without really thinking, Gaara leaned forward and let his lips brush hers lightly, before capturing her in a fierce kiss.

He could feel Sakura stiffen immediately, but then she seemed to melt as she began to return his kiss. Gaara sat properly on the cot, wrapping his arms about her and deepening the kiss. It was almost like he was trying to eat her face, really, but in a way that made him feel good. And Sakura too, probably, considering the way she was responding.

Gaara pushed her back to the cot, not breaking the kiss, and lay atop her, letting a hand run down the side of her body. He knew he should stop, they all needed to get going if they were to reach River country by this evening. But he just couldn't break away. Sakura let out a little moan and Gaara was lost as her thighs parted to allow him to rest closer on top of her. He moved his hips ever so slightly against her and completely lost himself in her responding whimper.

"Sakura," he murmured against her lips, and she gasped as he ground against her once more.

It would have gone further, except that there was a rather indiscreet cough and the two of them froze, looking over to see Baki standing in the doorway of the tent. "I apologise for interrupting, Kazekage-sama," he said. "I did call out several times."

"What is it?" Gaara asked, not moving from his place above Sakura, who was currently trying to worm her way out from underneath him.

"The men are almost ready," Baki told him. "They only need to take down this tent, then we're good to go."

"Alright, we'll be right out," Gaara said, then looked down at Sakura when Baki had left.

She was blushing and still trying to wriggle out from underneath him, so he pushed himself off of her and stood, holding out his hand. "Come on," he said, "it's time to leave."

OoOoO

A highly embarrassed Sakura took the hand offered to her and allowed Gaara to haul her up onto her feet. She was so embarrassed that that Baki guy had walked in on them kissing, and the fact that Gaara had basically been dry humping her… There was only one other occasion where she'd been absolutely mortified like this, and she refused to even think of _that _particular disaster, thank you very much!

"You can have your own horse today," Gaara said as he led her out of the tent, "as long as you promise to stay close to me."

"Alright," Sakura said, giving in easily because her brain was still processing everything.

She was still feeling a bit sore from the riding and fighting yesterday, but felt confident at being able to handle it today. It had after all been awhile, as she'd told Gaara, since she'd last ridden. And though she tried to keep herself in shape, no fight had ever been as intense as yesterday's had been. She was quite frankly still surprised that she'd managed to hold off that guy as long as she did, even though she'd disarmed him eventually. Fat lot of good that was since she'd let her guard down so horribly. Lee would be horrified if he knew.

The horse that Sakura was given to ride was a brown mare, a rather placid animal that followed her directions easily. She figured that Gaara was giving her this particular horse because of what had happened yesterday, and she glared at the annoying red head who was deep in discussion with Baki. Finally he gave the order for them to move and they were off for River Country.

Now that she was on her own horse, and not sharing one with Gaara, Sakura could really appreciate the landscape of Japan without distraction. This was obviously before major towns and cities were built in this region, and she wondered what century it was. She had a feeling it was somewhere in the Edo period, and most of that assumption was based on the fact that the Sabaku katana had earned its fame during that time.

In any case, she enjoyed the trip, taking in the scenery as they passed it by. River Country was mostly flat, and therefore had a lot of rice paddies throughout it. They passed by a lot of them, and the people working stopped to look at them for a moment before going back to their labours. They seemed otherwise uninterested in a passing army, and that made Sakura wonder just how long this war had been going on.

When they passed by a hut or a small village, however, the people there would stare at them until they passed, or at least for as long as Sakura could see them. Many of them would tug at the person standing next to them and point, and that made her feel a little weird. She'd never liked it when people pointed _or _stared, and they were doing both.

Eventually there were no more villages and no more rice paddies and they found themselves in a light tree line once more. As soon as that happened Sakura felt a little uneasy, remembering yesterday when they'd been in a similar geographical locale. The men in the caravan also seemed to go on guard just that little bit more.

Around the middle of the day, a soldier came up to her and handed her some food and she took it gratefully, glad to get something to eat, she was starving! There was a water skin attached to the side of her saddle, which she'd been drinking from every now and then during the day, and once she'd managed to finish eating, she took a drink to wash down the food, desperately wishing she could brush her teeth.

The day seemed never ending, though obviously it had to come to a close at some point. But Sakura really felt that it was taking too long. When she wasn't being nicely distracted by the scenery, she allowed herself to think about Gaara, but only to wonder what was going on with her reactions. The last time anyone had made her feel like this… to be quite honest it was Sasuke, while they were dating. Her ex fiancé had always made her stomach flutter with butterflies, though Gaara was causing them to whip up a hurricane.

She looked over at the red headed enigma, only to find that he was watching her, and she blushed, looking away. He really was getting her insides worked up. If Ino were here, she knew that she'd be encouraging Sakura to go for it. Ino was another like Sakura's father who thought that she and Sasuke were good together, and after they'd broken up, Ino had said that if she wasn't going to be with Sasuke, she should at least find someone else to be with. But that was her best friend, always poking her nose into Sakura's love life.

Eventually Sakura simply sighed and went back to watching the scenery, not really wanting to think of her family and friends, whom she missed so very much.

OoOoO

Gaara had noticed that Sakura seemed preoccupied with staring around them. He thought perhaps she was simply taking in the scenery. In any case, he made sure he kept an eye on her, but she seemed to holding up pretty well, and he was relieved. He'd been so worried about how she was going to be after what had happened yesterday, and thought that maybe it still hadn't sunk in.

Surely she would have freaked out in some way? Gaara may have absolutely no idea where she came from or what kind of life she'd led, but he was sure that she would have reacted in some way to everything that was happening. This was a war after all, it wasn't something that you got used to in one day, not at all. It took years to adjust, and even then there were still days that…

He was getting off topic, not that he had one in the first place.

The day wore on, and Gaara remained on his guard, just in case there was another attack. At least with Sakura on her own horse, he was definitely able to do that. She was rather distracting, in a way that he could not afford out here. Perhaps when they met with Naruto's contingent he could leave her with his friend? She would be safer with Naruto, he had a lot more men with him out here, over triple what Gaara had with him.

But the thought of leaving Sakura with Naruto didn't sit well with him. Not because he didn't trust his friend, he did with his life. But he simply didn't want to be parted from her, and that thought was more than a little unnerving. If he was the sort to do so, Gaara would almost think that he was afraid, but that was ridiculous. Instead he decided to push it all aside. Sakura would stay with Naruto, that was final.

With that decided, Gaara returned to his careful watch for any sign of the enemy.

The sun was hanging low on the horizon when a lone runner was spotted coming their way. They moved in plain sight, a deliberate show of their presence, and Gaara figured that it was probably one of Naruto's scouts. Sure enough, when the runner got closer, he recognised the insignia for Leaf on the man's hitai-ate.

Gaara raised his arm, bringing the caravan to a halt as they waited for the runner to reach them completely. Finally he reached them, bowed low and said, "Greetings, Kazekage-sama. Hokage-sama has been waiting for you, though you were expected yesterday."

"We were unexpectedly delayed," Gaara spoke.

The shinobi straightened and looked up at him, physical appearance leading Gaara to believe that he was an Uchiha. "The way forward is clear of the enemy," the runner said, "but I'm afraid you won't find Hokage-sama at the encampment."

Gaara frowned. "Why not?" he asked. "He asked for me to meet him here."

"He needed to cross the border into Fire Country this morning," he was told. "There were reports of an attack and he needed to be there."

Gaara nodded in understanding, thinking perhaps this was the reason Jiraiya had left so suddenly. "Well, shall we move forward then?" he asked, and the shinobi nodded briefly before turning and taking off in the direction he'd come from.

Gaara gave the signal and the caravan moved again. At the pace they were going with a full complement, the sun had almost disappeared over the horizon when Naruto's camp came into sight, and it had gone down completely by the time they were welcomed by Naruto's most trusted friend and General, one Hatake Kakashi.

"Welcome, Kazekage-sama," Hatake said, giving a slight bow. "If you follow me, there is a space Naruto'd ordered cleared for you and your men."

"Lead the way, Hatake," Gaara said, and he did so.

OoOoO

Sakura was quite tired by the time Gaara's tent was up. As soon as it was, she practically collapsed onto the cot, closing her eyes immediately. Some time later she was woken to Gaara shaking her, and the first thing she noticed was the smell of food.

"Come," Gaara said. "I brought you food."

Sakura rubbed her eyes and stood, moving over to the table and chair that she could swear wasn't there when she'd gone to sleep. "What is it?" she asked, sitting down and picking up her chopsticks.

"Fried squid tempura with rice," Gaara told her, pulling up another chair and sitting down.

They ate in silence, then Sakura asked, "So where did your friend go?"

"He went to kick out some invaders in one of Leaf's border towns," Gaara said. "He should be back tomorrow."

Sakura nodded. She finished soon after that, then notice that Gaara had already finished his. Her eyelids began drooping and she knew that he noticed when he stood and pulled her to her feet.

"You're exhausted," he commented.

"I think the past couple of days are catching up to me," Sakura said, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.

"I was wondering when that would happen," Gaara commented.

Bristling, Sakura demanded, "Just what do you mean by that?"

"I only meant that you've obviously strained yourself past what you're used to," he told her.

"What I'm used to?" she demanded. "You don't know what I'm used to! You don't even know _me_!"

"I'm not trying to insult you," Gaara said a little stiffly. "I was just worried about you."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why were you worried?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Gaara asked.

Sakura shook her head and was about to speak when Gaara pulled her to him and caught her in a kiss. She melted instantly and began kissing him back and when she did, he pulled away slightly and murmured, "This is why, though kami knows I have no clue why you matter so much to me."

He pushed her towards the cot and down on to it, following close behind her, and Sakura wondered for a brief moment what would happen if no one interrupted them this time right before Gaara began to kiss her again, driving that thought from her mind.

**So, make sure you review to tell me what you think.**


	7. An Irritating Blond

**Enjoy the new chapter, and I don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter Seven – An Irritating Blond**

The kiss was mind blowing and intense, and Gaara was relishing in the sweet taste of Sakura's lips. But then the arms around him went slack and he pulled back to find that she'd fallen asleep. Gaara sighed and pulled away slightly, enough to rearrange her into a more comfortable position but still staying close enough to hold her to him. She was exhausted, he knew, he really shouldn't have started anything.

But that part of him that was drawn to her hadn't been able to resist the call she seemed to send out to him. Looking down at her, Gaara decided that maybe he shouldn't stay, that maybe he should go see to his men. He knew that Naruto's people were seeing to them already and that his presence wasn't really necessary, but still… Maybe he _should _stay, be here when Sakura woke. But why should he do that?

He was greatly disturbed by his own thoughts lately. Even though he kept going over it all in his mind, he simply couldn't figure out just how Sakura had managed to manoeuvre her way under his skin to the point she had. Gaara closed his eyes a moment, then snapped them open when he decided that he needed to get away from there. Gently he extricated himself from Sakura's embrace and walked out of the tent right into one of Naruto's Captains, Akimichi Chouji.

"Gaara-sama," the heavily muscled man greeted.

The first time Gaara had met him had been when they were younger, and it hadn't been muscle that covered him then. "Akimichi," Gaara said. "Is Nara here, or is he still in Suna? I haven't had a missive from home recently."

Chouji grinned. "He's still there," he said, and Gaara resisted the urge to groan. "We got word from them the other day, seems that there might be something going on near your northern borders. Some rogues from Amé, or something. Temari's sent some people out to investigate, and Shikamaru said they hope it's nothing. Apparently you've always had problems from that lot."

Gaara nodded. "I expect I'll get something from Temari soon then," he said, and excused himself from Chouji's company, who bowed respectfully to him then walked away.

_Amé_? That didn't really sound right, and Gaara wondered what was going to happen next. He knew that with his attention focused on assisting the Leaf, that there might be some who would attempt to test their defences, but he was confident in his people and their ability to deal with whatever could come their way. They were a desert people, hardy and able to use said desert to their advantage against invaders. He felt sure that they would be fine, but couldn't help worrying over this.

Gaara moved through the encampment, ignoring the people going about their duties. It was quite late, but lights were set up for those who were up for whatever reason, and there was still the smell of food lingering in the air. There were a lot of people here, shinobi, samurai and such, and unlike Gaara's own troop, there were women here too, women who'd been trained from a young age, just like the men here. They were mostly among the shinobi, though not the samurai.

Suna had kunoichi as well, his own sister was an accomplished warrior in that respect. It was just the way it had turned out that the squads that he'd been travelling with were male. If it were any other reason, he knew that Temari would have more than one rather furious word to have with him, and she was rather imposing when she got riled up.

In any case, Gaara had been walking rather aimlessly and now found himself at the edge of the encampment. Looking back, he wondered if Baki had someone following him to make sure he remained safe. With all the chakra signatures from the assembled throng that was here, there was no way to tell one from another unless they were being deliberately stealthy.

Letting out a sigh, Gaara turned his attention to the dark quiet of River country. Just past that copse of trees he could barely see, Fire country started there. They were close to the border town that Hatake had told them that Naruto was headed for, which meant that he shouldn't be too far away, unless they'd decided to stop for the night where they were.

Gaara hadn't stopped walking, and the camp was getting further from him and the border closer. He knew that he was in no danger, there wasn't really anyone who could best him in a fight, but he knew that whoever had been assigned to him had probably sent someone to inform Baki that the Kazekage had left the camp. Whatever. Gaara needed to clear his head and the quiet of night was perfect.

He soon came across a small stream that had a few rocky outcroppings and decided to stop. Gaara settled himself on the least uncomfortable looking rock and closed his eyes, deciding to take the opportunity to meditate. He knew he was alone out here, there were no chakra signatures out here, hidden or otherwise. People couldn't really hide from him in that manner, though usually only if they were alone. Large groups were more difficult for some reason, especially if he was distracted. Which he was the other day in that ambush.

Hours passed as Gaara sat there, meditating, and then he sensed a presence headed his way. He frowned, then realised he recognised that signature. He let them get all the way up to him, and when a kunai came whizzing towards him, Gaara's hand snapped up and he snatched it out of the air with ease.

"Aw," a voice spoke, "I was hoping to finally catch you off guard! _Chikushō_!"

Gaara opened his eyes and looked down at the grinning face of his best friend in the world, Uzumaki Naruto.

OoOoO

Sakura woke once more to the sound of birds chirping and the low hum of people talking and going about their day, and she knew that it meant that it was morning. Languidly she sat up and stretched, then remembered that Gaara had been with her when she fell asleep. And of course then she remembered what they were doing and felt extremely embarrassed for falling asleep like that.

Squashing that feeling, she looked around to discover that she was alone in the tent, and she frowned, wondering where Gaara might be. Silently berating herself for even wondering, Sakura stood and noticed that there was a plate of food on the table where she'd shared a meal with Gaara the previous night, and she sat down, eating it eagerly. When she was done, she made her way to the tent opening, and looked outside. She looked around for a familiar face but couldn't find any, and she sighed.

Returning into the tent, Sakura wondered what she was going to do now. Looking around, she decided that she would at least change her clothes, but before she could act on that, the tent flap opened and Gaara strode in, followed closely by two women dressed in yukatas, or maybe they were just simple kimonos.

"You're awake," Gaara said, stating the obvious. "This is Miu and Yuuka. They are going to take you to a bathing tent, I'm sure you've been wanting a real bath for a couple of days now."

The idea of having a real bath caused a smile to cross Sakura's face and she allowed the two women to lead her out, but not before saying to Gaara, "Thank you."

He nodded in response and then Miu and Yuuka were leading her through the camp to a tent near the middle of the camp, by the looks of it. There was a larger tent nearby, but she didn't really have the opportunity to look closer. Once inside she discovered a large tub filled with water that was warm enough to steam and she smiled, smelling the jasmine and yellow lily scent coming out of it. The next minute she let out a squeak of surprise when the two women with her took hold of her clothes and began to undress her.

"Are you alright?" the one called Miu asked concernedly.

"Uh, yeah," Sakura said, realising that she was supposed to let them undress and possibly bathe her.

She knew it was an old tradition for those of noble birth to be bathed like this by servants. Did that mean that Gaara really didn't believe she was a whore? Sakura hoped so. With that in mind she allowed Miu and Yuuka to continue removing her clothes until she was naked, and then she stepped into the soothing warm water. The heat went straight to her sore muscles, and she sighed in contentment as Miu and Yuuka grabbed some soapy sponges and began rubbing them over her back, front and her arms.

The bath got a little embarrassing when it came to cleaning certain parts of her, but other than that Sakura enjoyed the feeling of being pampered. Once her body was clean, Miu moved on to her hair while Yuuka cast aside the clothes Sakura had been wearing, leaving the tent for several moments before coming back with different clothes. From the angle Sakura's head was resting as Miu washed her hair, it looked like Yuuka had retrieved more feminine clothing for her.

Finally, Miu asked, "Please stand so we can rinse you," and Sakura complied, closing her eyes when fresh, warm water washed over her.

Stepping out completely, Yuuka dried her off and then they dressed her in the new clothes, consisting of strange underclothes and a pale green kimono with pink embroidery through it. The obi was the opposite, pink with green embroidery, and the obijime was green. The geta Yuuka had brought were too small, so Sakura remained barefoot, not that she minded.

Miu brushed her hair and put it up in an elegant style, securing it with kanzashi. All in all, Sakura thought she looked rather nice, even if it was a little elaborate for her tastes.

"There," Yuuka declared. "Now you look like a real Lady, and not a vagabond or warrior. Definitely presentable to the Hokage. Too bad about the geta, though."

_The what?_ Sakura wanted to ask what she meant, but the two of them grabbed one of her hands each and led her out of the tent and back to the one she'd been in with Gaara. People stared at her the whole way and Sakura desperately tried to ignore them. When they reached the tent, Gaara was waiting for her inside.

He came over to her, looking her over before saying, "Perfect, but what about her feet?"

"Apologies, Kazekage-sama," Miu said as she and Yuuka both bowed, "but the geta provided didn't fit her feet. They were too small."

Gaara nodded and the two women left, leaving her alone with him. "You look beautiful," he told her, then rummaged through some of his things, pulling out a pair of zori sandals that were in relatively good condition.

Sakura blushed lightly at the compliment, allowing him to put the zori on her feet and then she asked, "Why did they say I'm going to meet the Hokage?"

"Because you are," he told her, taking her arm in his hand and leading her back out of the tent.

The largest tent in the camp that was situated in about the middle came into view, and it seemed that that was where they were headed. People were still staring at her, but more obviously now that she was practically arm in arm with Gaara, and she tried to look as small as possible. When they reached the tent Gaara led her inside and immediately over to a blond man talking with a familiar face.

"Sakura!" Jiraiya greeted her. "Wow, you look gorgeous!"

"Thanks," Sakura said, then noticed the blond's attention shift to her.

"Hello!" he greeted her with a grin. "I've heard such a lot about you in a short time, Sakura! It's really interesting the way you seemed to just appear out of nowhere! Oh, my name's Naruto by the way, Uzumaki Naruto. I'm Konoha's Hokage."

Sakura desperately tried to keep her jaw from dropping, but it still went slack at that statement. _Uzumaki Naruto! _She looked over at Gaara who remained impassive, his face not giving away anything, not that she expected it to. Jiraiya, on the other hand, had a huge grin on his face at her reaction. Desperately she tried to get herself back under control.

"Nice to meet you," she finally managed to squeak out, then yelped in shock when Naruto suddenly engulfed her in a bear hug.

"I don't know why," he told her, "but I just know we're gonna get along great, Sakura-chan!"

OoOoO

Gaara didn't know how he felt about the fact that Naruto seemed to be clinging to Sakura. Well, not really clinging, but once he'd hugged her, he hadn't let her go. Gaara was forced to watch as Naruto utterly charmed Sakura, who seemed to be falling completely under whatever spell it was that he was casting over her. It made some inner beast of his (_not _Shukaku) growl jealously and it was then that he realised these feelings for her were more than he'd thought they were.

Kami, was he in love with her? Looking at his pinkette, Gaara thought that he probably was, but wasn't ready to properly admit it, not yet. But the way things were going with this jealousy thing, it might happen sooner rather than later. Everything was moving way too fast, and he really didn't want to go along for the ride.

How was it Naruto was getting along with her so well? Sure, the irritating blond always made friends with anyone he could, but he'd lowered his guard completely with her, and he _never _did that on a first meeting! This was unprecedented, and Gaara wasn't happy about it. But even worse was the fact that Naruto was engaged, yet he acted like Sakura was his long lost lover!

Well, maybe it wasn't that extreme, but the red headed Kazekage was feeling in the mood to go over the top.

Finally Naruto returned his attention to him, releasing Sakura in the process, and she sat down on one of the available chairs. "Well?" Naruto was saying. "What do you think?"

_Kuso_! He wasn't listening and had missed what Naruto'd said. "What?"

Naruto rolled his eyes and repeated, "I _said_ that Sakura told me she knows how to fight, and I asked her if she wanted to help us. And then I asked you what you think!"

_No! _something inside him yelled, but he found himself saying, "I don't care either way."

Naruto looked at him strangely. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I mean she can help if she wants to," Gaara said. "It's not really up to me."

"Uh, it is up to you, Gaara," Jiraiya said. "She's under your protection since you found her and took her in, basically."

Gaara glared at him. "I wasn't the only one there, _rōjin_," he reminded him.

"But you're the Kazekage," Naruto said, "so that makes you the automatic guardian for Sakura-chan."

Gaara looked over at Sakura, who looked embarrassed to be talked about in such a way, and he even caught a glint of ire in her eyes. "Fine," he said with a sigh. "I've decided she can help then, but she'll have to prove to me she can fight, I haven't seen any evidence of it yet."

Sakura looked up at him then, and he swore he saw a hint of a challenge in her beautiful emerald orbs.

**So, how did you like it? I bet you were all expecting a lemon at the start there, weren't you? Ha-ha, fooled you! I think it's a little early for a lemon, though in the original there were two by now I think. I was having a few issues with the rewrite, I didn't want to be short a chapter or more when I finally catch up to where I was, though I don't mind if I get ahead. But I think I've got it all figured out now.**

**Anyway, review to give me your thoughts and I'll get working on the next chapter. Bye!**

**Glossary:**

_Chikushō: Damn it._

_Obijime: A cord tied around an obi to help keep it in place._

_Kanzashi: Elaborate Japanese hair combs and hairpins._

_Kuso: Shit._


	8. Proven Worth

**Yeah, yeah, been a long time since I updated, blah, blah. But I've said before I refuse to rush my stories, and if that means not writing for awhile, then that's what it means. No matter who keeps coming to me and bugging me over and over to get writing and I tell them to piss off out of my room. Lol.**

**Anyway, I suppose I have been more delinquent than usual since I sometimes didn't even **_**try**_** to write, but I won't do something if I don't want to. But how about instead of listening to me go on and on, why don't you read the chapter instead?**

**Naruto belongs to Kishimoto. If I owned it, it would totally be GaaSaku on the canon, and Sasuke would either wake up to himself, or drop dead, depending on my mood. And then he'd totally get with Naruto… or maybe Hinata, if she's not with Naruto, but preferably with Naruto. (Cute little Uke!) And then Shika would admit he loves Temari, no matter how troublesome she may be and… er, whatever. Fix my window.**

**Chapter Eight – Proven Worth**

She gently swung the kodachi in her hand, examining the craftsmanship. It really was a fine blade, light and easy to wield, but also strong and sharp. Sakura had already sliced the roast ham on the table with it, easily cleaving it in two. Naruto had glared at her, of course, but that was just because he was eating it. Jiraiya had thought it was hilarious and had cracked up laughing, which had caused Naruto to throw what looked like a kunai at the old man, who'd caught it easily enough. A nearby cloth was used to clean the blade.

"Are you ready?" Gaara asked, and Sakura nodded.

Gaara had issued his challenge maybe twenty minutes ago, and Sakura had been taken to change into something much easier to fight in. When she'd arrived back at the Hokage's tent, Naruto had given her the kodachi and she'd immediately tested its weight in her hand. The grip was excellent, kodachi had always been one of her favourite weapons along with the katana and tantō.

Sakura followed Gaara out of the tent, and they in turn were followed by Naruto and Jiraiya. The Hokage had insisted that she call him by his name, and after a little awed hesitation, she'd agreed to do so. Now as she basically walked with him to the training area that she'd been told was set up for the warriors to vent frustration and to hone their skills, she focused her attention on Gaara.

Gaara was the same rank as Naruto, leading his own village, but Naruto's name was well known in her time, he was legendary for bringing about peace after a war that had lasted for decades. He was one of many who'd brought about the end of the infamous Snake Charmer, and she'd gathered from bits she'd overheard that it was the very same villain people called Orochimaru. Sakura was walking with living history, and she was a little unnerved by it all.

But she was determined to deal with it as best she could, and resolutely put all the things she'd heard about this war to the back of her mind. It would be like any time she'd met a celebrity at one of the Leaf Museum's launches, and couldn't act like a star-struck idiot because it would have embarrassed her mother.

They'd reached their destination, and Sakura wasn't really surprised to see that there were already people here. The clash of hanbō, kodachi and kunai wasn't overwhelming, but Sakura was amazed at the skill she could see that the warriors had. She watched two people fighting furiously with nodachi, thinking how if Lee were here, he'd probably be crying tears of joy at the opportunity to fight so many seasoned fighters.

"Well Sakura," Naruto said, "what would you like to do first?"

"Um… maybe something with hanbō or something similar?" she guessed.

"Oi! Etsuko!" Naruto yelled, and a woman came over to them, holding a pair of tonfa. "Etsuko, this is Haruno Sakura, a friend of the Kazekage's. Sakura, this is Hyuuga Etsuko, she can be your opponent. Oh and Etsuko, no Byakugan whatsoever! Or chakra for that matter."

"Why not?" Etsuko asked, incensed.

"Because Sakura's never worked with chakra," Jiraiya spoke up then. "This is merely to show us what she can do."

"No chakra, eh?" Etsuko asked, slightly mollified. "Alright then, let's get to it. What're we using?"

"How about the tonfa that's in your hand?" Naruto suggested, then looked at Sakura.

"Works for me," the pinkette agreed.

OoOoO

Gaara watched as Sakura picked out a set of tonfa, weighing them carefully in her hands. He'd figured that she knew something about weapons when he'd seen her handle the kodachi Naruto'd given her with such ease. It was obvious she knew how to fight, just because of her willingness to go up against someone to prove it. But he had no idea what Naruto was thinking pairing her with a Hyuuga, despite the fact that there would be no chakra. It was almost as bad as if he'd chosen an Uchiha.

But now Sakura and Etsuko were facing one another, and Gaara settled on the fallen log that had been usurped as a seat, next to Naruto and Jiraiya. "What do you think, Gaara?" Jiraiya asked. "How good do you think Sakura will be?"

"She should be able to handle herself well," the Kazekage said. "After all if she couldn't, why would she have agreed to this? She would be risking her well-being otherwise."

"That's true," the Sannin said, and they settled back to watch.

Etsuko made the first move, lashing out towards Sakura's head, and the pinkette easily blocked it, then quickly moved out of the way as Etsuko came at her with her other arm, ducking down and aiming towards Etsuko's legs. The Hyuuga easily dodged that, and soon the two of them were getting serious. Gaara was impressed with how Sakura was keeping Etsuko on her toes, and even the Hyuuga kunoichi looked impressed. They stepped it up a notch, Sakura going on the defensive for a little while before equalling Etsuko's moves.

Gaara's stomach jolted when Etsuko scored the first hit on Sakura's ribs, but he forced himself to stay still. He watched as Sakura fought back twice as hard after that, soon landing her own hit against Etsuko. The two of them kept fighting, neither gaining the higher ground until Etsuko lashed out, pushing Sakura back, causing her to trip. Etsuko quickly knelt down to place a tonfa at Sakura's throat.

Naruto was on his feet, clapping and laughing happily. "Well done, Sakura-chan!" he crowed, and rushed forward to hug her once Etsuko helped her up onto her feet.

"Indeed," Etsuko said. "Considering I wasn't using any chakra, you gave me quite a workout, Sakura-san."

"Are you done?" Gaara asked. "Or do you want to keep going?"

Sakura looked at Etsuko, who shrugged. "Maybe if you have hanbō?" Sakura suggested.

"We do," Etsuko said. "I'm a little rusty with the hanbō, to be honest, I prefer my tonfa or a katana."

"Then maybe I'll beat you this time," Sakura said with a smirk.

"Maybe," Etsuko said with an answering grin.

Sakura and Etsuko once again faced one another a moment later, hanbō staffs in hand. Gaara watched as they circled one another, and this time it was Sakura who made the first move, lashing out towards Etsuko's middle, which the kunoichi blocked. The fight went much the same as before, only the opposite in that Sakura landed the first blow, to Etsuko's chest. The Hyuuga took it easily enough, and retaliated with a series of blows that rained heavily on the hanbō Sakura wielded. Then she managed to whack Sakura in the leg.

In the end, Sakura feinted a blow to Etsuko's head, only to duck down and trip the kunoichi. "I guess you really were rusty," Sakura smirked, the end of her hanbō at Etsuko's throat.

Gaara felt immensely proud of Sakura, then pushed the feeling to the back of his mind, he'd deal with that later.

OoOoO

As Sakura helped Etsuko to her feet, she felt inordinately proud of herself. This woman was a professional warrior, a ninja, and she'd beaten her, albeit with a weapon that Etsuko hadn't used in a long time. She looked over at Gaara and saw that he was staring at her, and when he noticed her glance, he smirked at her and she quickly looked away, blushing. He'd looked almost proud of her, and she tried to ignore how good that made her feel.

"Wow, you're really good, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. "I think you've more than proven you can help us, with or without chakra!"

"Thanks Naruto," Sakura said, then winced when her ribs hurt from where Etsuko had gotten her with the tonfa. "Ouch…"

Gaara was immediately at her side. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Just a little sore in the ribs," she told him, a little flustered at his concern.

"Sorry about that, Sakura-san," Etsuko apologised.

"Don't worry about it," Sakura waved off.

Naruto looked at her thoughtfully. "Come on, I'll take you to the medical tent, and Satomi-chan can have a look at you," he said, then turned to Etsuko. "You too, Etsuko-chan," he ordered.

"Yeah, yeah," she waved off, but followed meekly when Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and started dragging her off.

By the time they reached the medical tent, Sakura had managed to reclaim her hand and was walking next to Gaara. Jiraiya hadn't joined them, he'd said something about going to the mess tent. The medical tent was green, the only tent that was a different colour, and Sakura figured that it was to make it easy to find in an emergency. The insignia she'd seen on the headbands that a lot of ninja were wearing was printed on it, kinda like a leaf with a swirl. This was the old symbol for Konoha, well, not so old to these people anyway.

Once inside, Sakura noticed that it was sort of set up the way it was in that old TV show, M*A*S*H*, with a couple of rows of beds at one end, and what looked like a surgical unit at the other. In the middle were a few open boxes containing bedding and bandages. Most of the beds had occupants, and there were a few people wandering back and forth around the tent, tending to them.

"Satomi-chan!" Naruto called, and a rather plain looking brown haired woman looked up at the sound.

"Quiet, Naruto!" she snapped, her face changing from plain to irritated in one go. "You're disturbing my patients!"

"Er… Sorry," he said. "I've… um… got some new ones for you, nothing serious though… Um… Come on Gaara, let's get out of here!"

Naruto grabbed Gaara and dragged him out of there. "What was that about?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto's terrified of Satomi," Etsuko said happily.

"Oh."

The woman Satomi came over to them. "Alright, what's wrong with you two?"

"We were training, Satomi-san," Etsuko said, still as cheery as she was a moment ago. "I'm afraid I got Sakura's ribs a bit too hard, but she got me good too."

"Really?" Satomi asked, eying Sakura with interest.

"Really!" Etsuko said. "And without chakra too!"

"Alright, come here then, I'll have a look at you," Satomi ordered.

Sakura's injuries were healed with chakra, and just like when Kenzo healed her, she was absolutely fascinated. "Can you teach me how to do that?" she asked.

"Not without chakra," Satomi told her. "Etsuko, why don't you show her how to use chakra, tomorrow or something, and when that's done, I'll teach her medical ninjutsu. If she has the aptitude for it, that is."

Sakura beamed happily.

OoOoO

Gaara reluctantly followed Naruto all the way back to the Hokage tent, where they found Kakashi and Jiraiya deep in discussion. "I thought you were going to the mess tent, ero-sennin," Naruto said.

"I did, you little ingrate!" Jiraiya snapped. "But I found Kakashi there and we came back here to discuss Orochimaru."

"Without me?" Naruto asked. "This is _my_ camp, rōjin!"

Jiraiya glared at him. "You are so immature sometimes, Naruto," he said. "This is serious, we are at WAR!"

"I know that!" Naruto yelled. "Now what were the two of you talking about!?"

"WE WERE TALKING ABOUT HOW…" Jiraiya stopped, noting the look on both Kakashi and Gaara's faces. "Er… we were talking about how the latest intel has forces from Sound being spotted up in Earth Country. The Tsuchikage and the Earth Daimyo have it under control for now, but we don't know for how long."

"What are they doing about it exactly?" Gaara asked.

"They have ninja and samurai rounding up anyone suspected of knowing anything to do with Sound," Jiraiya said. "It's crude, but we'll see how effective it is if they get any results. But there's something else I wanted to talk to you about. Has anyone ever heard of a group known as Akatsuki?"

There was a general scratching or shaking of heads, then Jiraiya spoke, "They're a mysterious organisation, I'm unsure of their goals. But I have learned recently that Orochimaru was once a member."

"Do they pose a threat at this moment?" Gaara asked.

"It's uncertain," Jiraiya said. "I only stumbled across a mention of them while I was trying to find leads on Orochimaru before Naruto sent a summons for me."

"_Did_ you find anything on Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked. "Other than our usual intel."

"Just the usual, that he's hiding out in Rice. But none of our scouts have been able to find where he would be keeping his so-called secret base," Jiraiya told them.

"We need a plan," Gaara said. "So far Orochimaru has been using hit and run methods that have left us blindly groping after any attackers. We need to find a way to strike back, or forever be on the defensive."

Naruto looked stumped, so Gaara spoke up once more, "There have been talks in the past of adding extra protection for Wind, but with the knowledge of Orochimaru's base being in Rice, I think that we should send in two teams of ninja to scout the area, locate his base. That way we may actually accomplish the jump to the offensive."

"Leaf's fine with defence," Naruto said. "Are you sure your people can handle their own?"

"We can handle our own," Gaara intoned, "though I suppose help would be welcomed. We may not have the numbers of the Leaf, but we can use Tottori's dunes to our advantage, especially against an enemy unfamiliar with the terrain. I will need to discuss all of this with Baki."

Naruto nodded. "Maybe we should have a proper meeting tomorrow," he suggested. "Bring our Generals up to speed, get their input on the matter."

Gaara nodded, and Jiraiya stood. "Great!" he said. "Now that that's settled, I'm gonna hit the hay. I've got to get going soon to meet a contact, and it would be better done refreshed."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!" Naruto cheered.

"Don't you have paperwork still?" Kakashi asked, and Naruto groaned.

"I can just use clones…"

Gaara stood and left the tent, wondering where Sakura was. He closed his eyes and focused his sand, sending minute particles through the tents, and discovered that she'd gone back to the training grounds. Opening his eyes, he immediately used his sand to transport over there, spotting her right away, sitting on the same log he'd been on earlier when he'd watched her fight with Etsuko.

OoOoO

Sakura stiffened a bit when she realised that Gaara had appeared out of nowhere, using that sand of his. She turned to him as he sat down next to her.

"Hello, Gaara," she greeted.

"Hn."

Her eyes narrowed at his grunt, and she poked him in the ribs. "Rough day?" she asked with an undertone of sarcasm. "I never would have guessed.

"Don't get smart with me," he told her. "What are you doing back here?"

Sakura turned back to look at the people that were training, less than there had been before considering it would be getting dark soon. "These guys are amazing," she said. "Their fighting reminds me of a friend of mine, Rock Lee. Lee is a martial arts fighter. He and Kiba are the ones who taught me and my friends to fight, but they only fought in practice or for tournaments. These people though… They fight to defend those who can't, and I'm sure they would kill for that reason too. But from what I've noticed, I don't think they could match Lee-san in speed!"

There was a hint of pride in her voice at those words, and she looked up at that instant to see a weird look flash across Gaara's face. But then it was gone as quickly and his features were a mask once more.

Sakura stood again, pulling him up by the hand she was still holding. "Come on," she said. "Spar with me, show me how you fight."

"You want me to teach you how to fight?" he asked.

"I already know how," she told him. "I want to learn your way."

"Very well," he said. "Show me your stance."

Sakura immediately got into a stance she'd used with the Sound bandits. Gaara inspected her critically, eying her up and down, and she felt a little self conscious.

"It's a good stance," he told her, "but you're too relaxed."

Moving around behind her, he reached his arms around her, correcting her stance. She felt her heart rate increase, and for some reason knew Gaara was smirking at her, like he knew the effect he was having on her.

"Move your arms higher," he told her, deliberately letting his breath tickle her ear. "And bend your knees more. You need to be ready to move quickly, and this way, it'll be easier."

"I feel silly standing like this," she muttered.

"It's better than the way you were standing before," Gaara told her, moving in front of her and taking up his own stance. "Come at me."

Sakura and Gaara sparred until it started getting dark, Gaara frequently interrupting to correct her moves. By the end of it, she knew for sure that she had his respect, and that thought softened her view of him and she didn't protest when he led her back to his tent, ordering a ninja to get someone to bring them some food.

**I was gonna get Etsuko and Sakura to fight with kodachis as well, but decided not to. I think I did really well with this chapter, considering I hate fighting scenes with a passion. Anyway, review, ok?**

_Glossary:_

_Kodachi: A Japanese short sword._

_Tantō: A short sword used as a dagger, 15-30cm long._

_Nodachi: A large, two handed sword often synonymous with the Ōdachi._

_Hanbō: A martial arts staff._

_Tonfa: A stick with a handle, wielded in pairs, an Okinawan weapon._

_Rōjin: Old man, in case you forgot from that other chapter._

_Tottori: A prefecture in Japan._

_Tottori Sand Dunes: A 100,000 year old icon that's the closest thing Japan has to a desert._


End file.
